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).

Heparinase I is not a suitable replacement for protamine

The results of an international clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center researchers has shown that a new drug is not a suitable replacement for protamine, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years after coronary artery bypass surgery to return thinned blood to its normal state.

1 Aug 2005

Beta-blockers 'blot out memories' for sufferers with post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects around one in three of people caught up in such events, as the London bombings, and memories can be triggered just by a sound or smell.

29 Jul 2005

New research says binge before bedtime and shed weight!

According to new research, dieters who binge before bedtime could hold the key to weight loss.

29 Jul 2005

Study raises concern about the use of beta blockers for all heart patients

Doubt has been cast on the popular practice of giving most heart patients drugs that reduce the heart's workload before and after major surgery, after new research has raised concerns about it.

28 Jul 2005

After 30 aerobic fitness declines rapidly

As if you did you didn't already know, without a team of scientists telling you, your physical fitness is on the decline once you hit 30, but now, even more depressingly for the grey brigade of fitness fanatics out, a new study shows that the decline gains speed with each decade, regardless of a person's previous exercise habits.

27 Jul 2005

Controlling high blood pressure in individuals age 80 years and older has become a major national health problem

The study found that almost three fourths of those 80 years and older have hypertension -- blood pressure greater than 140 systolic over greater than 90 diastolic. Fewer than 10 percent have "normal" blood pressure levels -- less than 120 systolic over less than 80 diastolic.

26 Jul 2005

Study shows that while the rate of high blood pressure increased with age, numbers of people receiving treatment for the condition did not

Nearly two-thirds of men and women age 80 and older have high blood pressure, but their conditions are frequently not kept under control, according to new data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) long-standing Framingham Heart Study.

26 Jul 2005

Working class twins fare worse than their professional sibs on blood pressure, cholesterol and self-rated health

Nancy Krieger, professor of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues, compared the health status, education levels and adult occupational class among women who were identical twins and who lived together through adolescence, to demonstrate that adult socioeconomic conditions affect adult health, above and beyond genetics and early life conditions.

26 Jul 2005

More efficient genome-mining technique

An innovative new statistical method, described in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, streamlines the computation required to identify all the potential locations in the genome that influence a particular physical trait, or phenotype.

26 Jul 2005

Breathing in large quantities of salt particles has just the same effect on blood pressure as eating a salty diet

Workers in salt factories, who inhale large amounts of salt particles, are at risk of high blood pressure due to the increased salt intake.

25 Jul 2005

Study offers a unique perspective on the beginnings of the alcohol experience and usage patterns of 12-year-olds

Clues looking into the root causes of alcoholism are emerging from new findings that center on the genetic patterns of young drinkers, with particular focus on why adolescents are more likely to drink large quantities of alcohol even if they need more alcohol to get the effects they desire.

25 Jul 2005

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders, according to data from a national performance measurement project released today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, Alcohol Dependence: From Science to Solutions.

24 Jul 2005

Wealthy kids are not always healthy kids

An international team of researchers from the UK, Estonia, Denmark and Norway, have found that children from poorer families are not necessarily less healthy than those with more affluent and better educated parents.

23 Jul 2005

Stress test has less effect on blood vessels when hormone cortisol is blocked

Negative effects of the hormone cortisol on the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, may explain how stressful events trigger heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Good quality of life for cardiogenic shock patients after emergency procedures

Emergency bypass surgery or angioplasty procedures to counteract deadly complications that follow some heart attacks not only improve survival odds for cardiogenic shock patients, but the quality of life after such emergency revascularization procedures appears to be better than that of survivors who received less aggressive treatment, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Human dummy to teach medics

A new way to teach medical students will be demonstrated for the first time at Bristol University on 21 July 2005, during a joint meeting of the Physiological Society and the Federation of European Physiological Societies.

21 Jul 2005

Brain computer map could prevent strokes

A grant from the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand will allow researchers at the University of Canterbury New Zealand, to fine-tune a computer model of cerebral bloodflow that could become a tool in predicting, treating and preventing strokes.

21 Jul 2005

Metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes

A new review of studies confirms that the drug metformin should be in the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes. Using metformin alone can improve control of blood glucose, while also reducing risk factors for heart disease such as excess body weight, cholesterol levels and hypertension, the review found.

20 Jul 2005

Calcium may prevent polyps, but effect on colorectal cancer unclear

Although calcium supplements might prevent development of polyps that sometimes lead to colon cancer, there is not enough evidence that the mineral can prevent colorectal cancer itself, according to a new study.

19 Jul 2005

Variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity

Scientists in France and the United States report that a variant of a common protein plays a primary role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity, key features of the "insulin resistance syndrome" that affects more than 50 million people in this country and a similar number in Europe.

19 Jul 2005