Latest Diastole Stories

MR images taken when the ventricles of the heart relax and fill with blood and then when the ventricles contract and eject blood to the rest of the body provide a more complete picture of the extent of myocardial scar in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, a new study finds. Detection of scar is important because it helps identify patients who are at higher risk of a fatal event, said Dr. James Fernandez, the first author of the study. The standard protocol to determine scar in these...

New study presented at the World Congress of Cardiology organized by the World Heart Federation High normal blood pressure becomes less of a risk factor for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) with age, according to a new study presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology. The study, carried out over 9.3 years, evaluated the risk of different blood pressure categories among 6,273 participants aged 30 years old and above. The results showed that...

The first study to check the effects of eating potatoes on blood pressure in humans has concluded that two small helpings of purple potatoes (Purple Majesty) a day decreases blood pressure by about 4 percent without causing weight gain. In a report in the ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the researchers say that decrease, although seemingly small, is sufficient to potentially reduce the risk of several forms of heart disease. Joe Vinson and colleagues point out that people...

Researchers from Norway, led by Mette Svendsen of Oslo University, may have discovered a natural way to help reduce blood pressure. They conducted a study on 50 men and 68 women with an average age of 55, and had lightly elevated blood pressure in the range of 128/85. Some participants were told to eat three kiwis a day while others were told to eat an apple a day, and not change anything else about their diets. The researchers remotely monitored the blood pressure of the men and women via...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) "“ Almost 75 million Americans have high blood pressure, a silent killer that can cause heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, kidney damage and other potentially fatal events. Soy/milk protein dietary supplements were associated with lower systolic blood pressure, according to this study. The study's results suggest that partially replacing refined carbohydrates with foods or drinks high in soy or milk protein may help prevent and treat high blood pressure, Jiang He,...

Milk and soy protein supplements were associated with lower systolic blood pressure compared to refined carbohydrate dietary supplements, in a study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.The study's results suggest that partly replacing refined carbohydrates with foods or drinks high in soy or milk protein may help prevent and treat high blood pressure, said Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher of the study.The randomized, controlled clinical trial is the first...

Abstract 58Small changes in weight can make bigger differences in the blood pressure for overweight children, compared to those at normal weight, according to a new study.Researchers tracked blood pressure, height and weight of 1,113 children over time, with the longest follow-up exceeding 10 years. They then compared the children's body mass index (BMI, a measure of body weight) to national charts adjusted for age, sex and height. Kids with BMIs in the 85th percentile or higher are...

A new comparison of two automated blood pressure machines suggests that newer devices are not necessarily better and could be msleading to some people that have high blood pressure. Dr. Robert A. Kloner, Dr. Stanley H. Wishner, and Dr. Johanna Landgraf of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles discovered that readings were about two points lower, with the automated device compared to the mercury based devices. The older "auscultatory" method uses a stethoscope and a mercury...

They turn Dad's hair gray, but children can now take partial credit for the health of Mom's heart.A new Brigham Young University study found that parenthood is associated with lower blood pressure, particularly so among women.Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a BYU psychologist who studies relationships and health, reports her findings Jan. 14 in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.Of course parenthood is not the only route to low blood pressure "“ daily exercise and a low-sodium...

Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and "screen time" at computers, videos and video games appear to be associated with elevated blood pressure in children, according to a recent report.David Martinez-Gomez, B.Sc., of Iowa State University, Ames, and the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain, and colleagues examined associations between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in 111 children ages 3 to 8.Sedentary behavior was determined by an accelerometer worn...