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).

Statin drugs may offer treatment option for chronic liver disease

Statin drugs are widely used to manage high cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But in a new review of more than 50 studies, researchers cite reductions in liver inflammation and improvements in other related factors as reasons why statins make good candidates for treating chronic liver disease.

23 Mar 2017

Endocrine Society releases new guideline to help diagnose and treat hypothalamic amenorrhea

Female athletes and women who have eating disorders are prone to developing a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhea that causes them to stop menstruating. The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline advising healthcare providers on ways to diagnose and treat this condition.

22 Mar 2017

FDA approves drug as add-on treatment for Parkinson's disease patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Xadago (safinamide) tablets as an add-on treatment for patients with Parkinson's disease who are currently taking levodopa/carbidopa and experiencing "off" episodes.

21 Mar 2017

Pre-pregnancy BMI and ethnicity may signal likelihood for obesity later in life, research shows

Specific messaging and resources are needed to promote healthy weight gain during pregnancy for young mothers, a new study suggests.

21 Mar 2017

Shortage of low blood pressure drug for patients with septic shock linked to elevated risk of death

Patients with septic shock admitted to hospitals affected by the 2011 shortage of the drug norepinephrine had a higher risk of in-hospital death, according to a study published online by JAMA.

21 Mar 2017

Penn scientists discover method that appears to provide early warning of transplant rejection

Approximately 30,000 organ transplants occur in the United States each year. However, between 20 and 50 percent—depending on the organ type—of the transplanted organs fail within five years, most often because the recipient's immune system attacks, or "rejects," the donated organ.

21 Mar 2017

Tsimane indigenous South Americans have lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population yet studied

The Tsimane people – a forager-horticulturalist population of the Bolivian Amazon – have the lowest reported levels of vascular ageing for any population, with coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) being five times less common than in the US, according to a study published in The Lancet and being presented at the American College of Cardiology conference.

21 Mar 2017

New stenting tool found to be less painful and cheaper than current methods

A new tool for assessing the narrowing of the heart's arteries was found to be as effective as current methods and less painful for patients.

21 Mar 2017

Many Canadian family doctors still use manual devices to measure blood pressure, study shows

A study by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) shows that more than half of family doctors in Canada are still using manual devices to measure blood pressure, a dated technology that often leads to misdiagnosis.

20 Mar 2017

Pacing program can lead to seven-fold reduction in fainting episodes

Patients with recurrent fainting episodes (syncope) who received a pacemaker delivering a pacing program designed to detect and stop the abnormal heart rhythms that precede syncope had a seven-fold reduction in fainting compared with patients in a placebo pacing group, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.

20 Mar 2017

Treating clogged arteries after heart attack improves outcomes, helps avoid subsequent procedures

Patients experiencing a major heart attack often have more than one clogged artery, but under current guidelines doctors typically only clear the blockage responsible for the heart attack.

20 Mar 2017

New iFR technique for assessing clogged arteries reduces discomfort and adverse events

For patients experiencing angina (chest pain) or a heart attack, a new tool called instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) was equivalent to the currently-preferred tool, fractional flow reserve (FFR), in terms of incidence of major adverse events according to two studies presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session. The studies also showed iFR resulted in markedly less patient discomfort and reduced procedure-related adverse events compared to FFR.

20 Mar 2017

Online behavioral intervention reduces systolic blood pressure by 10 mmHg, study finds

In the first randomized, double-blinded trial of an online behavioral intervention for high blood pressure, participants in web-based lifestyle counseling reduced their systolic blood pressure (the higher number in a blood-pressure reading) by 10 mmHg, compared with a 6 mmHg reduction for those taking part in a web-based control intervention, a statistically significant difference.

20 Mar 2017

Low-risk atrial fibrillation patients fare better without antithrombotic therapy, study finds

Findings from a large, community-based study show that antithrombotic therapy doesn't decrease low-risk atrial fibrillation patients' risk of suffering a stroke within five years. In fact, researchers found that low-risk patients fared better without any antithrombotic therapy.

17 Mar 2017

Nocturia is the top cause of sleep disturbance

‘On World Sleep Day sleep experts encourage people to understand the value of healthy and solid sleep. In particular, if they need to go to the toilet more than once in the night they have nocturia, a condition which affects one in three adults over the age of 30 and two thirds of adults over the age of 65.’

17 Mar 2017

Blood Pressure News and Research

Further Reading

Statin drugs may offer treatment option for chronic liver disease

Endocrine Society releases new guideline to help diagnose and treat hypothalamic amenorrhea

FDA approves drug as add-on treatment for Parkinson's disease patients

Pre-pregnancy BMI and ethnicity may signal likelihood for obesity later in life, research shows

Shortage of low blood pressure drug for patients with septic shock linked to elevated risk of death

Penn scientists discover method that appears to provide early warning of transplant rejection

Tsimane indigenous South Americans have lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population yet studied

New stenting tool found to be less painful and cheaper than current methods

Many Canadian family doctors still use manual devices to measure blood pressure, study shows

Pacing program can lead to seven-fold reduction in fainting episodes

Treating clogged arteries after heart attack improves outcomes, helps avoid subsequent procedures

New iFR technique for assessing clogged arteries reduces discomfort and adverse events

Online behavioral intervention reduces systolic blood pressure by 10 mmHg, study finds

Low-risk atrial fibrillation patients fare better without antithrombotic therapy, study finds

Nocturia is the top cause of sleep disturbance

Scientists identify genetic clues to chronic kidney disease

Penn State researchers receive NIH grant to improve lives of people with peripheral arterial disease

Increased uric acid levels in early life may lead to high blood pressure later on

Over-the-counter NSAIDs linked to elevated risk of cardiac arrest, study finds

Pre-existing immunity to dengue virus modulates T cell response to Zika infection

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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