Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) News and Research

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Hypertension (or high blood pressure) is a condition where the pressure of the blood flowing through the arteries of the body is higher than it should be. Much like the pressure of the air in a tire, if the pressure of the blood is too high it can damage the arteries and organs of the body. Just like the tire, if the pressure suddenly becomes very high, catastrophic events can happen. Similarly, if the pressure remains somewhat elevated for a long enough period of time, premature wear and failure can occur.

Hypertension has its worst effects on the heart, kidneys, eyes, and brain. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, hemorrhages of the retina of the eye, and generalized atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries all over the body).

UAB to present at annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has a number of presentations and experts available to comment on news being presented at the annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions that begin Saturday, March 23, 2012, in Chicago.

20 Mar 2012

HGF/C-MET signaling pathway plays a key role in gestational diabetes development

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a cell-signaling pathway that plays a key role in increasing insulin secretion during pregnancy and, when blocked, leads to the development of gestational diabetes.

17 Mar 2012

Unconscious racial attitudes affect positive interactions leading to the detriment of patient health

Primary care physicians who hold unconscious racial biases tend to dominate conversations with African-American patients during routine visits, paying less attention to patients' social and emotional needs and making these patients feel less involved in decision making related to their health, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

16 Mar 2012

Older women with mild retinopathy more likely to have cognitive decline and related vascular changes

Women 65 or older who have even mild retinopathy, a disease of blood vessels in the retina, are more likely to have cognitive decline and related vascular changes in the brain, according to a multi-institutional study led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

16 Mar 2012

China Pharma revenue increases 9% to $81.2M for full year 2011

China Pharma Holdings, Inc., a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceuticals company in China, today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011.

15 Mar 2012

Magnesium may help reduce blood pressure

Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire have found that magnesium supplements may offer small but clinically significant reductions in blood pressure. In a paper published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the researchers also discovered that the size of the effect increased in line with increased dosage.

14 Mar 2012

Positive results from Bausch + Lomb, NicOx BOL‑303259‑X phase 2b study on OAG

Bausch + Lomb, the global eye health company, and NicOx S.A. today announced positive top-line results from the phase 2b study conducted with BOL‑303259‑X, a novel nitric oxide-donating prostaglandin F2‑alpha analog, in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

13 Mar 2012

MRI reveals microgravity-induced intracranial hypertension in astronauts

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the eyes and brains of 27 astronauts who have spent prolonged periods of time in space revealed optical abnormalities similar to those that can occur in intracranial hypertension of unknown cause, a potentially serious condition in which pressure builds within the skull.

13 Mar 2012

InflammaGen to initiate Phase 2 study of new drug/delivery platform for shock

A 200-patient Phase 2 clinical pilot study will be initiated this month to test the efficacy and safety of a new use, and method of administering, an enzyme inhibitor for critically ill patients developed by University of California, San Diego Bioengineering Professor Geert Schmid-Sch-nbein. Conditions expected to qualify for the study include new-onset sepsis and septic shock, post-operative complications, and new-onset gastrointestinal bleeding.

12 Mar 2012

Some bone marrow cells could prevent rejection of transplanted kidney in recipients: Study

Researchers transplanted certain cells from the kidney donor’s bone marrow along with the new organ. Five of eight transplant recipients who tried the method so far were off immune-suppressing medication up to 2½ years later, the researchers reported Wednesday. The preliminary results were considered important enough to be published in the journal Science Translational Medicine even though the study still is under way, because the technique worked for patients who didn’t have well-matched or related donors.

8 Mar 2012

Metformin drug appears to prevent growth of atherosclerosis in patients with HIV

Treatment with the common diabetes drug metformin appears to prevent progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients infected with HIV.

8 Mar 2012

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects. The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients.

8 Mar 2012

New minimally invasive procedure can treat resistant hypertension

A radically different approach to treating high blood pressure - using a minimally invasive procedure- is being evaluated as part of a Pivotal Phase III 90-site national trial that includes The Carl H. and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries.

8 Mar 2012

Tree nut consumption may reduce weight and health risks

March is National Nutrition Month and as the spotlight shines on all things healthy, celebrate with a mindful snack that loves you back-California pistachios.

7 Mar 2012

High blood pressure due to stress maybe due to the immune system

If stress is giving you high blood pressure, blame the immune system. T cells, helpful for fighting infections, are also necessary for mice to show an increase in blood pressure after a period of psychological stress, scientists have found.

5 Mar 2012

Ten physicians indicted in alleged $250 million fraud scheme

As has been the trend in some recent health care fraud cases, the physicians were not the ringmasters. Instead, the indictments allege that they were fronts for others - primarily immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

2 Mar 2012

New health data from Cleveland neighborhoods on obesity, hypertension and diabetes

Today, the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods of Case Western Reserve University release new health data from Cleveland neighborhood groups on three of the most pressing public health concerns: obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

29 Feb 2012

FDA accepts Tau Therapeutics' mibefradil IND for treatment of cancer

Tau Therapeutics LLC, a pharmaceutical company developing T-type calcium channel inhibitors for the treatment of solid tumors, announced today that its investigational new drug application (IND 109196) for its novel drug mibefradil has been accepted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

28 Feb 2012

Insights into how fructose may contribute to development of obesity, diabetes

A group of scientists from across the world have come together in a just-published study that provides new insights into how fructose causes obesity and metabolic syndrome, more commonly known as diabetes.

28 Feb 2012