Latest hypertension Stories

Indiana University researchers found that the highly active middle-aged subjects in their study appear to avoid the arterial stiffening -- when arteries become less compliant as blood pumps through the body -- that typically comes with aging. A reduction in compliance of the body's large arteries has been shown to occur with age and with inactivity. It also is considered a risk factor, predictive of future cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure and stroke. The study compared...

Aiming for & incentivizing strict BP control for all patients means some are being over-treated -- but an individualized approach could help ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aggressive efforts to lower blood pressure in people with diabetes are paying off - perhaps too well, according to a new study. The research shows that there have been dramatic improvements in blood pressure control among patients with diabetes in the U.S. Department of Veterans...

It seems that while the practice of bloodletting throughout history had little or no effect on most diseases, and the practice was abandoned in the 19th century, new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates that blood donation has real benefits for obese people with metabolic syndrome. Two sessions of bloodletting were enough to improve blood pressure and markers of cardiovascular disease. Metabolic syndrome is the name given to a host of...

Nearly 40 percent of the small adrenal tumors that cause big problems with high blood pressure share a genetic mutation that causes patients to retain too much sodium, researchers report. The study of 47 human, benign adrenal gland tumors also showed a mutation of the gene KCNJ5 is twice as likely to occur in women – 71 versus 29 percent – as it points to potential new treatments for some patients who don't respond to current hypertension regimens, said Dr. William E. Rainey,...

Aiming for & incentivizing strict BP control for all patients means some are being over-treated -- but an individualized approach could help Aggressive efforts to lower blood pressure in people with diabetes are paying off – perhaps too well, according to a new study The research shows that there have been dramatic improvements in blood pressure control among patients with diabetes in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with as many as 82 percent of patients having blood...

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) has announced that Michele Blair, an experienced healthcare leader, has been chosen by the executive council as the society's new CEO. The HFSA provides a forum for those interested in heart function, heart failure research and patient care. Ms. Blair will be responsible for overseeing the society's current activities and the groups' expansion into advocacy and move of the Society's...

Kaiser Permanente Study analyzed electronic health records of 900,000 youth Children who are overweight or obese -- particularly older, non-Hispanic white girls -- are more likely to have a neurological disorder known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a rare condition that can result in blindness, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Journal of Pediatrics. In a cross-sectional, population-based study of 900,000 children ages 2-19 years old, researchers...

And boosting overall dietary calcium confers no significant heart health benefit Calcium supplements might increase the risk of having a heart attack, and should be "taken with caution," concludes research published in the online issue of the journal Heart. Furthermore, boosting overall calcium intake from dietary sources confers no significant advantage in terms of staving off heart disease and stroke, the findings indicate. Previous research has linked higher calcium intake with a...

The number of Americans suffering from kidney stones between 2007 and 2010 nearly doubled since 1994, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and RAND. "While we expected the prevalence of kidney stones to increase, the size of the increase was surprising," says Charles D. Scales, Jr., MD, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Scholar in the departments of urology and medicine at the David Geffen School...

Heart disease and stroke deaths drop significantly for people with diabetes Healthier lifestyles, better disease management are helping people live longer ATLANTA, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Death rates for people with diabetes dropped substantially from 1997 to 2006, especially deaths related to heart disease and stroke, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Deaths from all causes declined by...