Blood Pressure News and Research

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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).

First Ladies discuss women's heart health

First lady Laura Bush and former first lady Nancy Reagan on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley, Calif., participated in a panel discussion on women's cardiac health and toured the "First Ladies Red Dress Collection," a collection of red dresses worn by first ladies that aims to promote heart health among women, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Mar 2007

Treatment for gum disease could also help the heart

Scientists at University College London (UCL) have conducted the first clinical trial to demonstrate that an intensive treatment for periodontitis (gum disease) directly improves the health of blood vessels.

4 Mar 2007

Chemoimmunotherapy versus chemotherapy for metastatic malignant melanoma

The addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy for malignant skin cancer that has spread does not improve survival rates, researchers have found, and patients have more serious side effects, such as anemia, when the two treatments are combined.

1 Mar 2007

Sunitinib halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer

Research has shown the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug known as sunitinib which halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer.

1 Mar 2007

Salty British bread puts 7,000 lives at risk

Health campaigners in Britain say high levels of salt in bread sold in supermarkets is placing 7,000 lives a year at risk.

1 Mar 2007

Common painkillers raise mens' risk of hypertension

Researchers in the United States believe that regular use of common painkillers such as Acetaminophen (paracetomol), ibuprofen and aspirin, increases the risk of high blood pressure and consequently heart disease in men.

28 Feb 2007

Psychological depression contributes to worse medical outcomes for patients with heart failure

Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, is marked by the inability of the heart muscle to pump enough oxygen and nutrients in the blood to the body's tissues.

27 Feb 2007

Caffeine offers seniors protection against heart disease

According to researchers in the United States seniors who are regular drinkers of caffeinated beverages have a lower risk of coronary vascular disease and heart attacks.

26 Feb 2007

Intel, Motion Computing develop tablet computer to reduce medical errors

California-based Intel and Texas-based Motion Computing on Tuesday unveiled a jointly developed tablet computer designed to help health care workers update medical records as they care for patients, Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times reports.

21 Feb 2007

Decline in atillbirths

The rate of fetal deaths, also known as stillbirths, occurring at 20 weeks of gestation or more declined substantially between 1990 and 2003, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

21 Feb 2007

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk

The 2007 Guidelines for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Women -- published today in a special women's health issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association -- also include new directions for using aspirin, hormone therapy and vitamin and mineral supplements in heart disease and stroke prevention in women.

20 Feb 2007

Beta-blockers should not be a doctor's first choice for treating high blood pressure

Beta-blocker drugs such as Tenormin, Inderal and Lopressor should not be a doctor's first choice for treating high blood pressure, according to a large new review of studies.

20 Feb 2007

An aspirin a day keeps heart disease away

According to new guidelines released by the American Heart Association, almost all women are at risk of heart disease and doctors should consider prescribing a daily aspirin for them.

20 Feb 2007

Women are more likely than men to show elevated diabetes risk factors

The 'diabetes clock' may start ticking in women years in advance of a medical diagnosis of the disease, new research has shown.

20 Feb 2007

Updated guidelines provide definitive answers on HRT, aspirin, supplements

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk, not just short-term risk, according to updated American Heart Association guidelines.

20 Feb 2007

C-Reactive protein plays a direct role in the onset of hypertension

We have discovered that C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is not merely a marker of the risk of hypertension, it actually induces hypertension.

19 Feb 2007

Direct connection between a nation's overall happiness and its citizens' blood pressure problems

Doctors have known for a long time that blood pressure is one measure of an individual's health. This research is the first to demonstrate that there a connection between nations' happiness and blood-pressure levels.

19 Feb 2007

Enzyme important in fetal heart-cell failure - findings provide new targets for treatment

In almost all forms of heart failure, the heart begins to express genes that are normally only expressed in the fetal heart. Researchers have known for years that this fetal-gene reactivation happens, yet not what regulates it.

18 Feb 2007

For the greater good of mankind - Major project will examine factors which cause common diseases

Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente research division are about to embark on one of the largest research projects in the United States.

18 Feb 2007

New Kaiser Permanente research aims to reveal genetic and environmental causes behind deadly and disabling diseases

The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research is launching one of the largest research projects in the United States to examine the genetic and environmental factors that influence common diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer's disease, asthma and many others.

15 Feb 2007