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BP

The following articles have the tag BP

Low vitamin D raises risk of hypertension

YOUNG adult women with inadequate vitamin D intake are at significantly increased risk of developing hypertension later in life, US research suggests.  A prospective study of 413 women aged 24 to 44 found those with vitamin D insufficiency (less than 80 nmol/L) at baseline were three times more likely to developed hypertension 14 years later than those with normal vitamin D levels. The association remained significant after adjusting for hypertension, age, body fat percentage, antihypertensive medication use and smoking status. Professor Rebecca Mason, deputy director of the Bosch Institute at the University of Sydney, said the ...

Novel treatment for hypertension

AUSTRALIAN researchers say their novel technique for renal nerve deactivation effectively reduces high blood pressure in patients resistant to drug treatments. The renal denervation procedure is “safe, quick and minimally invasive”, and may eventually offer a way to reduce patients’ drug load, say the developers, from Melbourne’s Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. The procedure involves inserting a catheter through the groin into the renal arteries, where it emits radio frequency energy to deactivate the surrounding renal sympathetic nerves. This results in a sustained reduction in blood pressure.  Research supporting the technique’s efficacy was presented to ...

US barber shops cut hypertension in men

ENABLING barbers to monitor blood pressure and dispense basic health education seems to improve hypertension in African-American men, new research confirms.  A randomised trial involving 17 African American-owned barbershops in Dallas County, Texas, found almost 9% more of the intervention group achieved hypertension control compared to those attending barber shops where no intervention was offered after 10 months’ follow-up.  Barbers in the intervention groups offered BP checks with haircuts to all their clientele and promoted doctor follow up with gender-specific peer-based health messages, compared with controls where barbers distributed standard BP pamphlets to clients.   ...

Lower BP raises risk in pre-existing CAD

A J-CURVE effect, whereby those with the highest and lowest blood pressure levels are both at increased risk of cardiovascular events, has been confirmed in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), researchers say. A US study of 10,000 patients with CAD, randomised to receive either 80 mg or 10 mg atorvastatin, found an increased risk of death from coronary heart disease or non-fatal myocardial infarction at both low and high BP targets. The authors say it confirms earlier findings and questions the dictum that “with blood pressure, lower is always better”. The CV risk was less with ...

Pressure test for BP monitoring

Just how good is BP monitoring when it comes to gauging the effectiveness of antihypertensives? Chris Brooker looks at the debate that could see the sphygmo’s dominance in the surgery decline.

Gulf Oil spill triggers mental health problems

THE oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not only the worst environmental disaster in US history, but is also already being linked to a significant spike in mental health problems. Since the spill on 20 April,  when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded offshore, killing 11 workers and pumping almost five million barrels of oil into the ocean, health professionals have reported increasing levels of anxiety, depression, substance abuse and domestic violence in US Gulf Coast communities.  US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has said the spill will be an even greater long-term threat to mental health ...

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BP tool measures risk of surges

A MEASURE for determining the ‘power’ of morning blood pressure (BP) surges could be a promising tool for identifying patients at high risk of cardiovascular events. Australian researchers have developed the BP measurement tool based on a mathematical estimate of the rate of BP rise and amplitude (day-night difference) to determine differences in morning BP rises in 400 patients with untreated hypertension and 391 receiving treatment for hypertension. Patients with untreated hypertension had more than two-times greater morning BP surge than patients without hypertension. Untreated white-coat hypertensives had almost twice as high morning surges as non-hypertensives. ...

Lower BP no benefit in diabetes and CAD

LOWER blood pressure targets for patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) may not achieve their aim of improving cardiovascular outcomes. A US secondary analysis of 6400 patients with diabetes and CAD has challenged 2008 Australian Heart Foundation guidelines recommending BP targets of less than 130/80 mmHg in patients with diabetes and/or coronary heart disease.  There was little difference in the rate of cardiovascular events between those maintaining systolic BP under 130 mmHg and those with “usual” control (130/80 mmHg to 145/85 mmHg). And when extended follow-up data was included, those in the tighter controlled ...

Check BP in children with familial hypertension

Check BP in children with familial hypertension

HYPERTENSION in children is increasingly common, researchers say, highlighting the need for blood pressure checks in children with obesity or a family history of cardiovascular disease. A US/Canadian cross-sectional study of 2000 paediatric primary care practice visits in children aged three to 20 years of age without a history of hypertension found 726 (36%) of children had elevated BP.  However, as many as 87% of cases of elevated BP were not recognised by clinicians, most likely in children with more modest BP elevations.  “Although obvious signs… may prompt providers to recognise BP elevation in children, cases ...

BP monitoring at home superior to office: study

ROUTINE use of home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is gaining ground, after a new study found it to be a superior predictor of cardiovascular events to office BP monitoring.   A Finnish population-based study, including 3672 participants, found home BP measurements predicted cardiovascular events 22% better than office BP measurements, and were the sole effective predictor of all-cause mortality.  After seven years, changes in cardiovascular risk were steeper with an increase in home BP compared with office BP.  Professor Anne-Marie Hennessy, foundation chair of medicine at the University of Western Sydney, said the findings added to ...

Ambulatory BP thresholds revised

AUSTRALIA’S first-ever 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure thresholds for moderate to severe hypertension have been set slightly lower than equivalent clinic values. The targets were developed from a collaborative study by the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia and the National Heart Foundation. The study compared 24-hour ambulatory BP measurements from 8575 treated and untreated hypertensives across Australia with clinic measurements by 1693 trained staff and doctors. The findings showed average clinic BP measurements by trained staff were 6/3 mmHg higher than daytime ambulatory BP and 10/5 mmHg higher than 24-hour BP, but 9/7 mmHg lower ...

BP variability a powerful stroke predictor

VARIABILITY in blood pressure readings, commonly regarded as being ‘uninformative and random’, is actually highly predictive for stroke and other adverse outcomes and should be more widely considered when assessing cardiovascular risk, experts say. European researchers found visit-to-visit variability in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was "a powerful predictor of stroke and coronary events independent of mean SBP, and maximum SBP is more predictive than mean SBP". A review of four cohort studies, including around 7000 patients with previous hypertension or transient ischaemic attack, found variability was independently a ...