Blood Pressure News and Research

RSS

Blood Pressure is the force of circulating blood on the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure is taken using two measurements: systolic (measured when the heart beats, when blood pressure is at its highest) and diastolic (measured between heart beats, when blood pressure is at its lowest). Blood pressure is written with the systolic blood pressure first, followed by the diastolic blood pressure (for example 120/80).

Meditation could help reduce anxiety levels and some heart health risk factors

It sounds like a late-night commercial: In just one hour you can reduce your anxiety levels and some heart health risk factors. But a recent study with 14 participants shows preliminary data that even a single session of meditation can have cardiovascular and psychological benefits for adults with mild to moderate anxiety.

20 Apr 2018

Experimental compound reduces destructive inflammation to improve stroke outcome

An experimental compound appears to improve stroke outcome by reducing the destructive inflammation that can continue months after a stroke, scientists report.

20 Apr 2018

Teen patient gets a new lease on life

At just 18 years old, Megan Gagliardi was told she might die from a rare genetic heart condition. Now, thanks in part to UAB Medicine's Comprehensive Transplant Institute (CTI), she is celebrating her recent engagement and an important six-year anniversary - all as the University of Alabama at Birmingham celebrates 50 years of transplant success.

19 Apr 2018

Study: Eyes of adolescents could be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later life

New research has found that poorer well-being or 'health-related quality of life' (HRQoL) in adolescence could be an indicator of future cardiovascular disease risk.

19 Apr 2018

People diagnosed with traumatic brain injury may have increased risk of Parkinson's disease, shows study

People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the April 18, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

19 Apr 2018

Drug test spurs frank talk between hypertension patients and doctors

There’s an irony at the heart of the treatment of high blood pressure. The malady itself often has no symptoms, yet the medicines to treat it — and to prevent a stroke or heart attack later — can make people feel crummy.

18 Apr 2018

Students develop one-size-fits-all, inexpensive embolization tool

Stemming the flow of blood to starve a tumor or stop hemorrhage can be an expensive, repetitive task for doctors, requiring a variety of approaches and materials for different patients and different sized blood vessels. Often, the interventional radiologists who perform these important procedures must try several times in order to successfully stop the bleeding.

17 Apr 2018

Research reveals why people with tetraplegia more likely to suffer from sleep apnea

New research published in The Journal of Physiology has indicated why people with paralysis of their limbs and torso are more likely to suffer from sleep apnoea. This knowledge could be used to develop much-need targeted therapies.

17 Apr 2018

Antioxidant treatment may decrease cardiovascular risk in women with type 1 diabetes

The high estrogen levels that typically afford younger women protection from cardiovascular disease appear to instead multiply their risk if they have type 1 diabetes, researchers say.

17 Apr 2018

Listening to music enhances effect of anti-hypertensive drugs

In addition to remembering to take the medication prescribed by their cardiologists at the right times and going to the trouble of making healthy lifestyle changes, patients with high blood pressure (hypertension) can include a pleasing beneficial activity in routine treatment of the disease thanks to the discovery that listening to music significantly enhances the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs.

16 Apr 2018

'Night owls' have higher risk of early death than 'larks'

"Night owls" - people who like to stay up late and have trouble dragging themselves out of bed in the morning - have a higher risk of dying sooner than "larks," people who have a natural preference for going to bed early and rise with the sun, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

13 Apr 2018

People with TBI have increased risk of developing dementia

Sustaining a traumatic brain injury is associated with an increased risk of developing both dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to a nationwide study of 2.8 million people over 36 years, published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

12 Apr 2018

Life-saving STB and B-Con techniques need to become as familiar as CPR

Nearly 60,000 people die from bleeding each year, and though injuries that result in extreme blood loss have long been a sight all too common in areas like West Philadelphia, the national spotlight has certainly shone upon the issue of late.

11 Apr 2018

Sweet tooth gene linked to less body fat, research shows

People with a gene variation of FGF21 have a predisposition to less body fat than others, new research conducted at the University of Copenhagen, among others, shows.

11 Apr 2018

Vascular dysfunction associated with severe menopausal symptoms

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in women. A study of 138 menopausal women examined the association of mood, symptoms, and quality of life measures with the key markers of vascular aging, a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD)

11 Apr 2018

Data-driven tool defines risk stages for children with chronic kidney disease

Experts in pediatric kidney disease have published a new staging system to help doctors better predict the length of time until a child with chronic kidney disease (CKD) will need to undergo a kidney transplant or start receiving dialysis. Although this type of prognostic guide exists for adults, this is the first such tool specific to children.

10 Apr 2018

Researchers suggest alternative therapy for heart attack patients with beta blocker intolerance

Beta blockers have become a prescription drug staple for recovering heart attack patients. However, these blood pressure-reducing medications cannot be tolerated by many patients who are at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, the elderly, and diabetics.

10 Apr 2018