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).

£60 million boost for pregnant mums to reduce child poverty

Public Health Minister, Yvette Cooper, will today announce a £60 million boost to tackle child poverty in low income areas even before children are born. The money will extend Sure Start programmes to cover pregnant women and their partners for the first time alongside families with children under four-years-old.

16 Apr 2004

Blood pressure testing in people under 35 often misdiagnosed

Doctors who routinely measure blood pressure in people under 35 are more likely to misdiagnose than to detect hypertension correctly, according to a study in this week's BMJ. This could lead to unnecessary lifelong treatment for many.

16 Apr 2004

Decongestant may increase blood pressure

A common ingredient in over-the-counter decongestants -- pseudoephedrine -- may increase blood pressure and the risk of life-threatening or disabling strokes in susceptible patients, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reported.

15 Apr 2004

Obese mothers increase likelihood of pre-eclampsia

A research team from the University of Glasgow has been awarded nearly £129, 000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to investigate the cause of pre-eclampsia (PE), a condition that kills nearly 600 babies in the UK each year.

14 Apr 2004

Drug duo prevents life-threatening condition in children undergoing stem cell transplant

A drug duo appears to be a safe and effective way to prevent a serious condition called graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) in youngsters undergoing a stem cell transplant

14 Apr 2004

NASA develops "Black Box" to monitor vital signs

When planes have a problem, analysts can usually figure out what went wrong. They simply check the plane's "black box," which records exactly what was happening to the plane at the time. Now, there's something similar for people. Under the leadership of NASA/Ames design engineer Carsten Mundt, researchers have developed a device that, Stanford electrical engineer and team member Greg Kovacs says, is a black box for human beings.

13 Apr 2004

Estrogen-alone hormone therapy had no effect on coronary heart disease risk

A large, multi-center heart disease prevention study, part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), found that estrogen-alone hormone therapy had no effect on coronary heart disease risk but increased the risk of stroke for postmenopausal women.

13 Apr 2004

AMA tackles health literacy

An estimated 90 million adults – nearly half the adults in America – have trouble understanding medical terms and directions, according to two studies published on April 8 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

12 Apr 2004

A drug that improves function of retinal blood vessels may be able to reduce the risk of stroke

The small study found that endothelial function is abnormal in eye blood vessels of patients who have early-stage hypertension, but that treatment with an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) drug improves endothelial function. The endothelium is the lining of vessel walls and plays a key role in the vessels’ ability to relax and to constrict.

9 Apr 2004

Britain's NHS to buy large volume of mobile MRI scanners

British Health Secretary John Reid today invited bidders to supply the NHS with new, mobile, 'state of the art' MRI scanners and highly qualified staff to help cut waiting times across England. These new scanners will targeted at areas of greatest need. It's expected that they will be operational this summer.

8 Apr 2004

Intensive diabetes management yields positive results

Increasing diabetes awareness and integrating a multi-faceted, approach to improve patient care and education, results in significantly improved patient outcomes, according to a report in the April issue of Clinical Diabetes, a publication of the American Diabetes Association.

7 Apr 2004

Research shows that intense high dose cholesterol lowering drugs result in a major reduction in deaths and severe heart attacks

If you want to increase your chances of living longer, taking cholesterol drugs is an easy way to do it. That's the message from a Harvard study of 4,162 people hospitalized in 350 places in eight countries. It is the first research to show that intense lowering of cholesterol results in a major reduction in deaths and severe heart attacks.

7 Apr 2004

Time-reversal acoustics research promises medical breakthroughs

Scientists have not yet found a way to actually make time run backward, but in the cutting-edge world of recent acoustics research, they have shown a way to make sound waves run backward in a kind of ultra-focused reverse echo. By the technology known as time-reversal acoustics, sound waves - in exact reverse order from the original sound - echo directly and very precisely back to their source point.

7 Apr 2004

Women with a history of pre-eclampsia are at increased risk of cancer

Women with a history of pre-eclampsia are at increased risk of cancer, particularly cancers of the stomach, breast, ovary, lung and larynx, according to a Columbia University study recently published by the British Medical Journal. Researchers studied 37,000 women in western Jerusalem, Israel, who delivered babies in three large hospitals between 1964 and 1976.

7 Apr 2004

Alzheimer's live about half as long as those of similar age without dementia

Age, seriousness of impairment, and the severity of other medical conditions are important indicators of how long an individual might survive after an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, Eric B. Larson, M.D., M.P.H. and colleagues report in the April 6 Annals of Internal Medicine. Study authors include Linda Teri, Ph.D., recipient of an Alzheimer's Association $1 million Pioneer research grant.

6 Apr 2004

Whites and African-American pain thresholds most likely the same

Previous research and anecdotal clinical evidence have suggested that African-Americans tend to be more sensitive to pain than Whites, but the latest research study shows the two groups simply interpret standard pain rating scales differently. The new study also confirms earlier findings that women are more sensitive to pain than men.

1 Apr 2004

Drug, Nembutal can suppress activity in colon cancer cells

A barbiturate once commonly used to treat anxiety may play a role in controlling the spread of colon cancer, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

30 Mar 2004

Listening to music can ease osteoarthritis pain

US research has shown listening to music for 20 minutes a day can reduce perceived pain levels among older people suffering from chronic osteoarthritis.

29 Mar 2004

A simple blood test could determine whether older women with diabetes would benefit from, or be harmed by, vitamin doses designed to protect their ailing hearts

A simple blood test could determine whether older women with diabetes would benefit from, or be harmed by, vitamin doses designed to protect their ailing hearts, according to researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

26 Mar 2004

70% of Americans not aware of their blood glucose (sugar) level

A new national survey conducted by the American Diabetes Association reveals that 7 out of 10 Americans are not aware of their blood glucose (sugar) level, critical information for determining the presence of diabetes or pre-diabetes. This awareness level is considered extremely low, especially as it relates to individuals' knowledge of blood pressure and cholesterol.

23 Mar 2004