For years cardiologists and other specialists have disagreed over the condition known as metabolic syndrome, a complex confluence of factors such as abdominal obesity, low HDL, or “good” cholesterol and hypertension.
By starting treatment for high blood pressure earlier and being more aggressive, physicians in the U.S. control hypertension significantly better than their counterparts in western Europe.
Individuals with diagnosed hypertension in the United States appear to have lower blood pressure readings and better hypertension control than patients in five western European countries – Archives of Internal Medicine, JAMA/Archives journal.
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center analyzed the data from 22 randomized clinical trials, and have found significant differences between antihypertensive drugs. ACE-inhibitors and the newer angiotensin receptor blockers, or ARBs prevent people from getting diabetes, and the older diuretics or beta-blockers, increase the chance that a person becomes diabetic, compared to either placebo (inactive sugar-pills) or calcium channel blockers according to a study published in the January 20, 2007 issue of the Lancet.
Some 50 million Americans have hypertension, that is, blood pressure measuring above the normal range (less than 120/80 mmHg). If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney disease. Lifestyle changes are the first-stage treatment for the disease, but if they fail, medications are prescribed. In a soon-to-be-released study using an animal model, scientists have found that tanshinone IIA, an active ingredient of danshen, reduces blood pressure.
New research has revealed that high blood pressure causes up to 66 percent of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke, in the Asia-Pacific Region.
A very high proportion of children who are having surgery are overweight or obese, and because of the excess weight have a greater chance of experiencing problems associated with the surgery, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.
Participatory community health practices originally developed in East Baltimore, MD by JHUSON Dean and researcher Martha N. Hill, Phd, RN are now being used by another Hopkins nurse researcher, Cheryl Dennison, PhD, CRNP to address and reduce hypertension (HBP) among South African populations.
Men with high blood pressure who have a drink or two per day may be at lower risk for heart attack than men who don’t drink at all, new research suggests.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dutch research institute TNO Quality of Life and Wageningen University, the Netherlands, found that, among hypertensive men, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attack.