High blood pressure may put women at greater risk for dementia later in life by increasing white matter abnormalities in the brain, researchers report.
A new study has found a link between parenthood and lower blood pressure. The effect was more pronounced among women. The findings were not related to factors like employment status, number of kids and the age of children.
Latinos are not all the same when it comes to risk of heart disease, and a new study shows key differences among Hispanic populations that doctors should take into account in trying to stem the risk of cardiovascular disease in this large and growing subset of the US population.
Using beta-blockers as a second-line therapy in combination with certain anti-hypertensive drugs significantly lowers blood pressure in patients with hypertension, according to a new review. This review also goes some way to explaining the differences in the way that patients respond to beta-blockers and other classes of blood pressure lowering drugs.
Blood pressure control in infants of smoking mothers is abnormal compared to that of infants from non-smoking parents. The blood pressure response to postural changes — tilting and changing from upright to lying down — was opposite in babies of smokers than in babies of nonsmokers. Blood pressure “reprogramming” in infants of smokers persisted at least until age 1, and could be an early marker for susceptibility to high blood pressure later in life.
Ophthalmologists recognize retinal vein occlusion (RVO), commonly called “eye stroke,” as a serious disease and significant cause of blindness. Surprisingly, the magnitude of the problem had been unclear prior to this first report on worldwide RVO prevalence by the International Eye Disease Consortium (IEDC). Based on data from 15 major population studies in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, the IEDC estimates that globally, 16.4 million adults are affected by RVO.
High blood pressure appears to predict the progression to dementia in older adults with impaired executive functions (ability to organize thoughts and make decisions) but not in those with memory dysfunction, according to a new study.
Individuals with a condition known as Chuvash polycythemia, which is caused by a specific mutation in the protein VHL, have a greater proportion of their blood volume occupied by red blood cells than do healthy individuals. They also have pulmonary hypertension (i.e., increased blood pressure in the blood vessels that go to and from the lung) and increased respiratory rates, although the mechanistic basis for these symptoms has not been determined. Now, researchers have identified a role for the protein HIF-2-alpha in the lung complications of Chuvash polycythemia by studying mice that model the condition.
A study led by Dr. William White and Dr. Pooja Luthra at the University of Connecticut Health Center is using the Oscar 2™, 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor (ABPM) to investigate a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension…
Using beta-blockers as a second-line therapy in combination with certain anti-hypertensive drugs significantly lowers blood pressure in patients with hypertension, according to a systematic review by Cochrane Researchers. This review also goes some way to explaining the differences in the way that patients respond to beta-blockers and other classes of blood pressure lowering drugs…
For people with hypertension, the damage of unhealthy eating can have particularly negative consequences. About one in four Americans has hypertension, a disease that elevates blood pressure and can lead to a host of serious problems including heart attacks and strokes…
China Pharma Holdings, Inc. (”China Pharma”) (NYSE Amex: CPHI), which develops, manufactures, and markets specialty pharmaceutical products in China, announced that the Company has completed clinical trials for Candesartan, an anti-hypertension drug, and submitted the generic drug production application to the SFDA…
UCLA researchers have discovered that a specific type of medication used to treat cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, angina and abnormal heart rhythms may also decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. In the first large-scale population-based study of its kind, Dr…
Newborns of women who smoked during pregnancy show signs of circulatory dysfunction in the first few weeks of life that get worse throughout the first year, Swedish researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association…
In a head-to-head comparison, two popular weight loss methods proved equally effective at helping participants lose significant amounts of weight. But, in a surprising twist, a low-carbohydrate diet proved better at lowering blood pressure than the weight-loss drug orlistat, according to researchers at Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center…
Sodium is essential for myriad biological processes including fluid balance and muscle contraction. However, too much sodium can have harmful effects such as increasing blood pressure. Consequently, reducing sodium intake is an important health message…
A new study from the US showed that two popular weight loss methods, one using the obesity treatment weight-loss pill orlistat plus a low-fat diet and another just based on a low carb diet were equally effective at helping people lose significant amounts of weight, but in a surprising twist found that that the low carb diet was much better at helping them lower blood pressure…
By as early as 7 years of age, being obese may raise a child’s risk of future heart disease and stroke, even in the absence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM)…
“This study provides excellent ammunition both to convince patients about the benefits of reducing their individual salt intakes and also to persuade the EU of the urgent need to introduce legislation to restrict the salt content of processed foods,” said ESC spokesman Professor Frank Ruschitzka, a cardiologist and hypertension specialist from the University of Zurich, Switzerland…
The team identified beta-sitosterol – a steroid that can inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine – as the main constituent of pomegranate seed extract. The research suggests that pomegranate extract could be used as a natural stimulant to encourage the uterus to contract during labour…
New studies show that overweight and obese people using alli® (orlistat 60 mg) with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet can significantly reduce weight, visceral fat, and waist circumference and therefore may reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke.1,2 The studies were presented at the 1st International Congress on Abdominal Obesity in Hong Kong…
A just published research experiment on inactive men with high blood pressure shows that just 3 months of soccer practise twice a week causes a significant fall in blood pressure, resting pulse rate, and percentage of body fat, and is more effective than the doctor’s usual advice on healthy diet and exercise…
Combining an anti-hypertension diet with exercise and weight loss counseling may result in increased reduction in high blood pressure along with other benefits. James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D., of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues studied 144 overweight or obese patients with high blood pressure…
AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor® system, which measures central blood pressure and arterial stiffness noninvasively, announced the publication of a new NIH-funded study*, published in the Journal of Hypertension, found that central (aortic) blood pressure, measured noninvasively with AtCor’s SphygmoCor system, is a more important indic…
