http://www.severehypertension.net/ en 2010-08-19T14:30:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/common-hypertension-drugs-can-raise-blood-pressure/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/common-hypertension-drugs-can-raise-blood-pressure/#When:14:30:00Z Commonly prescribed drugs used to lower blood pressure can actually have the opposite effect??”raising blood pressure in a statistically significant percentage of patients. A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that doctors could avoid this problem??”and select drugs most suitable for their patients??”by measuring blood levels of the enzyme renin through a blood test that is becoming more widely available. The study appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Hypertension. ???Our findings suggest that physicians should use renin levels to predict the most appropriate first drug for treating patients with hypertension,??? says lead author Michael Alderman, M.D., professor of epidemiology & population health and of medicine at Einstein. ???This would increase the likelihood of achieving blood pressure control and reduce the need for patients to take additional antihypertensive medications.??? The study involved 945 patients who were enrolled in a workplace antihypertensive treatment program in New York City from 1981 to 1998.  Severe Hypertension News 2010-08-19T14:30:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/blood-pressure-test-may-help-guide-treatment/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/blood-pressure-test-may-help-guide-treatment/#When:14:19:01Z Tests for a blood-pressure regulating hormone called renin may help doctors decide which blood pressure drugs their patients should take, researchers said on Wednesday. They said a mismatch between drugs and patient characteristics may help explain why many people do not benefit from blood pressure drugs, and testing for renin levels may help. “The one-size-fits-all approach must be abandoned,” said Dr. Curt Furberg of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, who wrote a commentary on the studies in the American Journal of Hypertension. Severe Hypertension News 2010-08-19T14:19:01+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/expensive-new-blood-pressure-meds-no-better-than-generics/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/expensive-new-blood-pressure-meds-no-better-than-generics/#When:19:20:00Z Expensive brand-name medications to lower blood pressure are no better at preventing cardiovascular disease than older, generic diuretics, according to new long-term data from a landmark study. Paul Whelton, MB, MD, MSc, reported the results on Aug. 13 at the plenary session of the China Heart Congress and International Heart Forum in Beijing. Whelton is president and CEO of Loyola University Health System and chairman of the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heat Attack Trial (ALLHAT), which has examined the comparative value of different blood pressure-lowering medications. More than 33,000 patients with high blood pressure were randomly assigned to take either a diuretic (chlorthalidone) or one of two newer drugs, a calcium channel blocker (amlodipine) or an ACE inhibitor (lisinopril). Severe Hypertension News 2010-08-13T19:20:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/links-between-cholesterol-and-coronary-heart-disease/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/links-between-cholesterol-and-coronary-heart-disease/#When:07:35:00Z The true power of genomic research lies in its ability to help scientists understand biological processes, particularly those that ??“ when altered ??“ can lead to disease. This power is demonstrated dramatically in a pair of papers published today in the journal Nature. In the first, a global team of researchers describes 95 different variations across the genome that contribute in different degrees to alterations in blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels in multiple human populations. In the second report, close examination of just one of these common variants not only reveals the involvement of an unexpected genetic pathway in lipid metabolism but also provides a blueprint for using genomic findings to unravel biological connections between lipid levels and coronary heart disease. ???Although blood concentrations of cholesterol and triglycerides have long been known as risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the extent to which genetics contributes to those concentrations and just how alterations in the underlying genes leads to the development of disease has been incredibly difficult to piece together,??? said Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, director of Preventive Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), an associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and co-senior author on both papers. ???In these two papers, we provide 95 signposts indicating genes that contribute to plasma lipid concentrations. In addition, we delve deeper into one specific signpost and move from genomic localization to biologic understanding by discovering how genetic variation leads to clinical symptoms in living organisms. We believe our approach is a model for many other such studies across multiple diseases.??? Severe Hypertension News 2010-08-05T07:35:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/for-blood-pressure-can-you-be-fit-but-fat/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/for-blood-pressure-can-you-be-fit-but-fat/#When:20:08:00Z If you’re trying to bring your blood pressure to healthy levels, a new study suggests that how much you weigh is more important than how fit you are. As expected, the study found that overweight or obese people were more likely to have a high systolic blood pressure - the top number in a blood pressure reading. But for those with a high body mass index (BMI) - a measure of weight versus height—how in shape they were only had a small impact on their blood pressure. The results suggest that people who are trying to decrease their risk for high blood pressure should focus on losing weight however they can most effectively do that, the authors say, and that increasing physical fitness should be a secondary goal. Severe Hypertension News 2010-07-30T20:08:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/identify-risks-of-hypertension-in-young-adults/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/identify-risks-of-hypertension-in-young-adults/#When:17:50:00Z Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers reveal in a new, large-scale study that “normal” blood pressure at age 17 can still predict hypertension at early adulthood and that teenage boys are three to four times more likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood than girls. According to the study published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, the research team assessed how teenage boys and girls with normal blood pressure might progress into becoming young adults with hypertension. Currently, systolic blood pressures of 100 to 110 and even up to 120 are considered within the normal range for adolescents. Other traits like weight, height and body mass index (BMI) have a range of distribution that is considered “normal.” “Frequently called the ‘silent killer,’ hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease and vascular diseases like stroke,” explains researcher Dr. Assaf Rudich, an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at BGU. “It is increasing along with the obesity epidemic, but regrettably, young adults who are otherwise healthy frequently are not screened for becoming hypertensive.” Severe Hypertension News 2010-07-27T17:50:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/are-blood-pressure-goals-for-diabetics-too-tough/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/are-blood-pressure-goals-for-diabetics-too-tough/#When:06:36:00Z Aggressively controlling blood pressure in diabetics with heart disease may do little to reduce their risks of dying early and may even be dangerous, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. They found that using a combination of drugs to keep diabetic patients’ top blood pressure readings below 130 offered no benefit over those whose top reading was below 140 - the cutoff point for high blood pressure. Normal blood pressure for healthy people is considered to be 120/80 or lower. Severe Hypertension News 2010-07-07T06:36:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/high-fructose-diet-may-contribute-to-high-blood-pressure/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/high-fructose-diet-may-contribute-to-high-blood-pressure/#When:17:59:00Z People who eat a diet high in fructose, in the form of added sugar, are at increased risk of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that cutting back on foods and beverages containing a lot of fructose (sugar) might decrease one??™s risk of developing hypertension. Hypertension is the most common chronic condition in developed countries and a major risk factor for heart and kidney diseases. Researchers are striving to identify environmental factors that might be responsible for the development of hypertension, and they suspect that fructose may play a role. Over the past century, a dramatic increase in the consumption of this simple sugar, which is used to sweeten a wide variety of processed foods, mirrors the dramatic rise in the prevalence of hypertension. To examine whether increased fructose consumption has contributed to rising rates of hypertension, Diana Jalal, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center) and her colleagues analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2006).  Severe Hypertension News 2010-07-06T17:59:00+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/too-much-fructose-could-raise-your-blood-pressure/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/too-much-fructose-could-raise-your-blood-pressure/#When:20:11:01Z Do you need a reason to cut down on sweetened beverages? Their fructose content might increase your blood pressure, doctors said Thursday. Although not all studies agree, the findings add to a growing body of evidence that too much of the ubiquitous sugar—found in fruits as well as high-fructose corn syrup and table sugar—can have important health consequences. (See Reuters Health story of May 24, 2010.) High blood pressure, for example, increases the risk of strokes, heart disease and kidney failure.  Severe Hypertension News 2010-07-02T20:11:01+00:00 http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/benicar-reduces-blood-pressure-in-hypertension-diabetes-patients/ http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/benicar-reduces-blood-pressure-in-hypertension-diabetes-patients/#When:19:17:00Z An investigational treatment made by Daiichi Sankyo for hypertension significantly lowers blood pressure in patients with hard-to-treat hypertension and diabetes, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial presented at a scientific meeting Monday. The Japanese drug maker said at the 70th annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Orlando, Fla., that the single-pill triple combination of Benicar (olmesartan medoxomil), amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide in the respective 40 mg, 10 mg and 25 mg strengths resulted in a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure compared with Benicar and hydrochlorothiazide or amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide. Amlodipine, which Pfizer sells under the brand name Norvasc, and hydrochlorothiazide are widely available as generics. The phase 3 trial, called ???TRINITY,??? enrolled 2,492 patients, of whom 15.5% had hypertension and diabetes.  Severe Hypertension News 2010-06-30T19:17:00+00:00