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).

Simple lifestyle changes could prevent half of all Alzheimer's disease cases

Over half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions, according to a study led by Deborah Barnes, PhD, a mental health researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

19 Jul 2011

Personal health data in Google Health profile can easily be transferred to Microsoft HealthVault account

Microsoft Corp. today announced that people using the Google Health service, scheduled to be discontinued Jan. 1, 2012, can easily transfer their personal health information stored in a Google Health profile to a Microsoft HealthVault account using the Direct Project messaging protocols established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

18 Jul 2011

Propranolol can block brain from retrieving cocaine-associated memories

New discoveries by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) offer potential for development of a first-ever pharmacological treatment for cocaine addiction.

16 Jul 2011

ECG results for young athletes prone to misinterpretation

Pediatric cardiologists are prone to misinterpreting electrocardiograms when using the results to determine whether young athletes have heart defects that could make exercising perilous, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. This is the first research to examine the acumen of pediatric cardiologists from several health-care institutions in using ECGs to detect rare heart conditions associated with sudden cardiac death.

15 Jul 2011

Patients with pulmonary hypertension more likely to have complications after bilateral TKA

A new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery has identified patients who are at a higher risk of morbidity and mortality when undergoing knee replacement surgery in both legs at the same time.

15 Jul 2011

Study: Overall awareness about eye health lower among ethnic Americans

The results of recent, comprehensive research supported by Transitions Optical revealed that the majority of Americans are not taking the proper steps to care for the health of their eyes, and that awareness of both short- and long-term effects of UV exposure on vision is remarkably low.

15 Jul 2011

Simple dental algorithm can effectively identify patients with unrecognized diabetes

In a study, Identification of unrecognized diabetes and pre-diabetes in a dental setting, published in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Dental Research, researchers at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that dental visits represented a chance to intervene in the diabetes epidemic by identifying individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes who are unaware of their condition.

15 Jul 2011

Provision to eliminate lifetime benefit caps in medical insurance allows life-saving heart-lung transplant

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law March 23, 2010, with the aim of extending medical coverage to more Americans. The law has been a political football, and arguments continue to rage over whether it's good or bad for the country. This, however, is simply the story of how it affected one person.

14 Jul 2011

Proteus receives U.S. patent for ingestible digital devices

Proteus Biomedical Inc., a pioneer in intelligent medicine, announced today that the United States Patent Office awarded U.S. Patent Number 7,978,064 to Proteus.

14 Jul 2011

New ‘state-by-state’ obesity data released in U.S.

A new report called ‘F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011’ from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows that Massachusetts has one of the lowest obesity rates in the nation even as obesity rises across the Bay State.

14 Jul 2011

Chronic self-reported NSAID use associated with increased risk of adverse events in hypertensive patients with CAD

A study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine, reports that among hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease, chronic self-reported use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was associated with an increased risk of adverse events during long-term follow-up. Long-term NSAID use is common for treatment of chronic pain.

13 Jul 2011

Severely obese children should be removed from parents, placed in care: Expert opinion

In a controversial new opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association the authors suggest taking severely obese children out of their homes and placing them in foster care. Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston and Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and a researcher at Harvard’s School of Public Health, write that in some cases it may be justified to take an extremely obese child out of their parents’ custody.

13 Jul 2011

Arena reports APD811 Phase 1 trial results against pulmonary arterial hypertension

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of APD811, an orally bioavailable agonist of the prostacyclin receptor which is intended for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH.

13 Jul 2011

One-fifth of all patients with fatal pulmonary disease receive delayed diagnosis

One-fifth of all patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension suffer with the fatal disease for more than two years before being correctly diagnosed and properly treated, according to a new national study led by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

12 Jul 2011

FDA approves protocol for Medtronic's SYMPLICITY HTN-3 for treatment of hypertension

Medtronic, Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has conditionally approved the protocol for SYMPLICITY HTN-3, the company's U.S. clinical trial of renal denervation with the Symplicity Catheter System for the treatment of resistant hypertension, an especially dangerous disease affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

From Medtronic 12 Jul 2011

Cardiology study looks at sodium and potassium in diet

A new study suggests that in addition to cutting the amount of sodium in their diets to improve heart health, Americans should also increase consumption of a key mineral found in many fruits and vegetables, potassium.

11 Jul 2011

Global variation in relative burden of stroke and heart disease

An analysis of heart disease and stroke statistics collected in 192 countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the relative burden of the two diseases varies widely from country to country and is closely linked to national income, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

11 Jul 2011

Salt intake study causes confusion

A new review of studies refutes earlier knowledge and says salt may not be as bad for the heart as commonly believed. Researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in Exeter, U.K. reviewed data for the Cochrane Library from seven studies with nearly 6,500 participants who reduced their salt intake and found that while eating less salt did lower blood pressure, it did not reduce the risk of dying or of having heart disease.

7 Jul 2011

Egg yolks may protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer

One of nature's most perfect foods may be even better for us than previously thought. While eggs are well known to be an excellent source of proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals, researchers at the University of Alberta recently discovered they also contain antioxidant properties, which helps in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

7 Jul 2011

Sodium intake during pregnancy alters kidney development in offspring

A new animal study from Europe has drawn an association between pregnant mothers' sodium intake and their newborn's kidney development.

7 Jul 2011

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) News and Research

Further Reading

Simple lifestyle changes could prevent half of all Alzheimer's disease cases

Personal health data in Google Health profile can easily be transferred to Microsoft HealthVault account

Propranolol can block brain from retrieving cocaine-associated memories

ECG results for young athletes prone to misinterpretation

Patients with pulmonary hypertension more likely to have complications after bilateral TKA

Study: Overall awareness about eye health lower among ethnic Americans

Simple dental algorithm can effectively identify patients with unrecognized diabetes

Provision to eliminate lifetime benefit caps in medical insurance allows life-saving heart-lung transplant

Proteus receives U.S. patent for ingestible digital devices

New ‘state-by-state’ obesity data released in U.S.

Chronic self-reported NSAID use associated with increased risk of adverse events in hypertensive patients with CAD

Severely obese children should be removed from parents, placed in care: Expert opinion

Arena reports APD811 Phase 1 trial results against pulmonary arterial hypertension

One-fifth of all patients with fatal pulmonary disease receive delayed diagnosis

FDA approves protocol for Medtronic's SYMPLICITY HTN-3 for treatment of hypertension

Cardiology study looks at sodium and potassium in diet

Global variation in relative burden of stroke and heart disease

Salt intake study causes confusion

Egg yolks may protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer

Sodium intake during pregnancy alters kidney development in offspring

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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