Posts tagged hypertension

Top Hypertension US Cities ‘Hot Spots’

Sep14
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Sponsored by:
TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS NORTH AMERICA, INC.
One Takeda Parkway Deerfield, Illinois 60015 Phone: 224-554-6500

Top U.S. Hypertension Hot Spots Revealed

Hot Spots part of Commit to Control, a new program encouraging the
75 million Americans who have hypertension to get their high blood pressure under control

Deerfield, Ill., July 12, 2011 – A national analysis conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, sponsored
by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., identifies the nation’s Hypertension Hot Spots, or cities that face the most challenges due to hypertension risk factors and complications. Although hypertension is the second-leading preventable risk factor for death in the United States, it typically has no symptoms, and more than half of diagnosed patients with hypertension still do not have their blood pressures under control.
The Hypertension Hot Spots were identified as a way to educate Americans about the high
prevalence of hypertension and the risk factors associated with it. Identification of these Hot Spots are part of a larger Takeda-sponsored hypertension awareness program called Commit to Control, which educates Americans about hypertension and also challenges patients to do all they can to get their blood pressure under control. Patients can visit www.CommitToControl.com for tools and resources for managing hypertension, the chance to make a virtual pledge to better control it and more information on a traveling exhibit with free blood pressure screenings and an animated 3-D hypertension simulator.
Criteria used to determine the Hot Spots included prevalence rates of hypertension and
hypertension prescriptions per capita, as well as the prevalence of several lifestyle factors that may lead to the development of hypertension.

According to the analysis, the 10 metropolitan areas facing the most challenges due to hypertension are:

1. Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark.
2. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
3. Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky./Ind.
4. Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.
5. Dayton, Ohio
6. Pittsburgh, Pa.
7. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
8. St. Louis, Mo./Ill.
9. Oklahoma City, Okla.
10. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

“Hypertension is treatable, so there is no reason for patients to wait to begin lowering their blood pressure and get to goal.”

Patients can visit www.CommitToControl.com to see a full list of the 50 Hypertension Hot
Spots and to make an online pledge to talk to their doctors about controlling hypertension. For each pledge made online, Takeda will donate $5, up to $10,000, to Mended Hearts, a community- based, nationwide heart patient support network.

Later this year, Commit to Control will visit select Hypertension Hot Spots in the United
States. The local tour will provide free blood pressure screenings and a chance to personally see the effects hypertension can have on the body through an animated 3-D simulation. The tour schedule is available on the program website, which also provides patients with resources on how they can take small steps toward managing hypertension.

“Patients need to make a commitment to better understand how high blood pressure
impacts their health and then work with their doctors to get it under control through healthy lifestyle changes and regular blood pressure monitoring,” said Dr. Bloch. “I want to encourage patients to make the pledge online, or with their doctors, to better manage high blood pressure today.”

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., and Takeda Global Research & Development
Center, Inc. Based in Deerfield, Ill., Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., and Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc. are subsidiaries of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan.

To learn more about these Takeda companies, visit www.tpna.com.

# # #

Posted in Hypertension

Top U.S. Hypertension Hot Spots Revealed

Jul13
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

DEERFIELD, Ill., July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — A national analysis conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., identifies the nation’s Hypertension Hot Spots, or cities that face the most challenges due to hypertension risk factors and complications. Although hypertension is the second-leading preventable risk factor for death in the United States, it typically has no symptoms, and more than half of diagnosed patients with hypertension still do not have their blood pressures under control.

The Hypertension Hot Spots were identified as a way to educate Americans about the high prevalence of hypertension and the risk factors associated with it. Identification of these Hot Spots are part of a larger Takeda-sponsored hypertension awareness program called Commit to Control, which educates Americans about hypertension and also challenges patients to do all they can to get their blood pressure under control. Patients can visit www.CommitToControl.com for tools and resources for managing hypertension, the chance to make a virtual pledge to better control it and more information on a traveling exhibit with free blood pressure screenings and an animated 3-D hypertension simulator.

Criteria used to determine the Hot Spots included prevalence rates of hypertension and hypertension prescriptions per capita, as well as the prevalence of several lifestyle factors that may lead to the development of hypertension. According to the analysis, the 10 metropolitan areas facing the most challenges due to hypertension are:

Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark.
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky./Ind.
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.
Dayton, Ohio
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
St. Louis, Mo./Ill.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

“The reality is hypertension is a widespread health concern that can lead to serious health consequences such as stroke and heart attack if left uncontrolled,” said Michael Bloch, M.D., American Society of Hypertension board-certified clinical hypertension specialist from Reno, Nev. “Hypertension is treatable, so there is no reason for patients to wait to begin lowering their blood pressure and get to goal.”

Patients can visit www.CommitToControl.com to see a full list of the 50 Hypertension Hot Spots and to make an online pledge to talk to their doctors about controlling hypertension. For each pledge made online, Takeda will donate $5, up to $10,000, to Mended Hearts, a community-based, nationwide heart patient support network.

Later this year, Commit to Control will visit select Hypertension Hot Spots in the United States. The local tour will provide free blood pressure screenings and a chance to personally see the effects hypertension can have on the body through an animated 3-D simulation. The tour schedule is available on the program website, which also provides patients with resources on how they can take small steps toward managing hypertension.

“Patients need to make a commitment to better understand how high blood pressure impacts their health and then work with their doctors to get it under control through healthy lifestyle changes and regular blood pressure monitoring,” said Dr. Bloch. “I want to encourage patients to make the pledge online, or with their doctors, to better manage high blood pressure today.”

About Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. Blood pressure numbers include systolic and diastolic pressures. Systolic pressure is the pressure exerted while the heart is beating. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure when the heart is at rest. In blood pressure measurements, the systolic number appears above or before the diastolic number. Hypertension is defined as elevated blood pressure about 140 mm Hg or greater systolic or 90 mm Hg or greater diastolic. High blood pressure typically has no symptoms. In fact, of Americans who have hypertension, an estimated 20 percent are still unaware they have it. If left uncontrolled, hypertension can lead to serious health problems, including heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure. Having high blood pressure can also shorten life expectancy by about five years, unless appropriately treated.

About the Hypertension Hot Spots Analysis

The analysis was conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces during the month of April 2011 for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. The goal of the study was to find the metropolitan areas in the United States that face the most challenges due to hypertension risk factors and complications. To find the places in the United States that are most challenged by hypertension, a large-scale analysis, which combined the findings of original research and existing, related research in the field of the study, was performed. The study compiled and analyzed data for the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. To determine these Hypertension Hot Spots, Sperling’s BestPlaces analyzed data about the following factors: self-reported diagnoses of hypertension, self-reported diagnoses of high cholesterol, self-reported diagnoses of cardiovascular disease, doctor diagnoses of hypertension (per capita), prescriptions of hypertension-control medication (per capita), mortality relating to hypertension, average Body Mass Index (BMI), obesity rate, smoking incidence and lack of exercise. The data came from the following sources: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, The CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database, The Gallup/Healthways Well-Being poll and ESRI data derived from the Doublebase Consumer Survey performed by Mediamark Research Inc. The analysis weighed the study’s categories by assigning each a magnitude of importance based upon the focus of the study; some categories offered more insight into the prevalence of hypertension. All data was adjusted by the current population to arrive at “per capita” figures to provide an accurate comparison between cities of varying sizes.

About Bert Sperling

For more than twenty years, Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own Best Places to live, work, play and retire. As the foremost creator of these studies, his work appears in the national media nearly every month. Annually, his “Healthiest Cities for Women” study is featured in SELF magazine. Other health-related projects include “Migraine Hot Spots,” “Asthma Hot Spots,” “Best Cities for Sleep,” “America’s Healthiest Cities,” “Best and Worst Cities for Skin Care” and “Most Visually Inspiring Places in America.” Sperling’s information is available on the website, www.bestplaces.net.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., and Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc.

Based in Deerfield, Ill., Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., and Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc. are subsidiaries of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. The respective companies currently market oral diabetes, insomnia, rheumatology, gastroenterology, and cardiovascular treatments and seek to bring innovative products to patients through a pipeline that includes compounds in development for metabolic and cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology, neurology and other conditions. To learn more about these Takeda companies, visit www.tpna.com.

SOURCE Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.

Posted in Hypertension - Tagged blood pressure

Newly discovered protein may help maintain healthy blood pressure

Jul11
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Researchers have discovered that a protein found in the walls of blood vessels plays a key role in maintaining healthy blood pressure; a discovery that could one day lead to new treatments for people with high blood pressure.

The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), shows that malfunction of the protein – a potassium channel called Kv7.4 – contributes to the maintenance of high blood pressure. The discovery is published this evening (2100hrs, 11 July) in the journal Circulation.

Dr Iain Greenwood from St George’s, University of London led the study. He said “High blood pressure is one of the most common diagnoses in the UK and one in three adults has it – that’s around 16 million people. People with high blood pressure are at much greater risk of heart attack, heart failure, and kidney disease and it’s the main risk factor for stroke.

“We are trying to understand how our bodies go about regulating our blood pressure under normal circumstances – the more we understand, the better we can get at spotting what is going wrong and intervening when someone has this common chronic health issue. This discovery is an important part of the puzzle and might one day lead to new treatments.”

Dr Greenwood and his team have shown that Kv7.4 plays an essential role in maintaining the extent to which arteries are constricted or dilated. He said “We have to be able to change our blood pressure at the drop of a hat – quite literally! If you dropped your hat and bent over to pick it up, you body would automatically reduce your blood pressure to account for the position of your head relative to your heart and the effect of gravity and then when you stood up again, your body would adjust it back up.

“The muscles in the walls of your blood vessels play a role in adjusting blood pressure and if they need to increase it, they squeeze the blood vessels more tightly to literally put mechanical pressure on your blood.”

The researchers examined rodents that had high blood pressure and discovered that in some cases the Kv7.4 channels weren’t working properly. These channels allow the passage of potassium out of the muscle cells in our blood vessels and they have to be open and closed at the right times so that the muscles can contract or relax when we need them to. In the animals that had high blood pressure and malfunctioning Kv7.4 channels, the problem was that the channels were blocked. This caused an imbalance in the finely controlled chemical environment of the muscle cell.

“The problem is,” continued Dr Greenwood, “if the Kv7.4 channels cannot function, the muscle cells overreact to the signals the body is giving to increase blood pressure. We think that in the animals we studied the redundant Kv7.4 channels contributed markedly to their high blood pressure.”

Whilst it is extremely unlikely that most people with high blood pressure have defective Kv7.4 channels, the researchers hope that by understanding the key role they play in maintaining healthy blood pressure we can use this knowledge to develop new strategies for adjusting blood pressure using drug treatments in the future.

Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, BBSRC said “If we are to have long, healthy lives, we need to understand how our bodies cope with the demands we place on them. Increasing our knowledge of the biology that underpins normal, healthy processes will pave the way for future strategies to prevent or treat health problems. Maintaining healthy blood pressure is an important part of keeping us all well and so this research could be of great benefit to many people in the future.”

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said “Physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing the amount of salt and alcohol you consume, and increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat can all play a part in lowering your risk of having high blood pressure. However, we still do not fully understand what causes the condition in most people – and current medicines to treat it are often not fully effective. Crucial research such as this could lead to new medical treatments for high blood pressure.”

Posted in Research - Tagged blood pressure research, high blood pressure

Spirituality May Soothe Hypertension

Jul08
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Newswise — Lisa Lewis, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, has received funding from the Edna G. Kynett Memorial Foundation, Inc., for her proposal “Spiritual Vignettes to Increase Medication Adherence among Hypertensive Black Church Members.”

Dr. Lewis writes:

“Hypertension is a major public health problem for blacks who live in the United States and the rate of medication adherence is unacceptably low in blacks as compared to whites. The purpose of the randomized controlled trial is to test the effectiveness of a church-based intervention compared with standard patient education in increasing antihypertensive medication use in black church members diagnosed with hypertension.”

“A growing body of literature shows that interventions developed and implemented from a strength-based approach may be more effective in producing health behavior change. The proposed church-based intervention capitalizes on the strengths within the black community.”

Dr. Lewis explores behavioral research with a particular focus on investigating factors that motivate and sustain health behavior changes in minority populations. Among her current research interests are hypertension among African Americans, spirituality and its relationship to health, and the development of nurses and scholars who are able to provide culturally competent care for diverse populations.

Posted in Non-Drug Therapies, Racial Disparities - Tagged Hypertension in African Americans

A Mother’s Salt Intake Could be Key to Prenatal Kidney Development

Jul06
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

A new animal study finds that too much or too little salt has an impact, and could lead to a lifetime of high blood pressure

Bethesda, Md. (July 6, 2011) – A new animal study from Europe has drawn an association between pregnant mothers’ sodium intake and their newborn’s kidney development. Among the most significant aspects of the study’s findings is that either too much or too little salt during pregnancy had an adverse effect on the prenatal development of the offspring’s kidneys. The consequence of such disruption can lead to high blood pressure in later years.

These are the conclusions reached in the study, “Both High and Low Maternal Salt Intake in Pregnancy Alters Kidney Development in the Offspring,” conducted by Nadezda Koleganova, Grzegorz Piecha, Annett Müller, Monika Weckbach, Peter Schirmacher, and Marie-Luise Gross-Weissmann, Eberhard Ritz and Luis Eduardo Becker, all with the University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, DE; and Jens Randel Nyengaard of the University of Aarhus, Aarhus, DK. Their study is published in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology–Renal Physiology.

Background
This research builds upon past studies that recognize that excessive salt intake causes secretion of endogenous cardiotonic steroids such as marinobufagenin (MBG). For the pregnant female, this can be harmful since high concentrations of MBG are correlated to low birth-weight and higher blood pressure in the offspring.

Previous research has also linked high blood pressure with a low nephron number, critical because the nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney. The nephron eliminates wastes from the body, regulates blood volume and blood pressure, controls levels of electrolytes and metabolites, and regulates blood pH. Its functions are vital to life and are regulated by the endocrine system.

Methodology
Sprague-Dawley rats were fed low, intermediate or high sodium diets during pregnancy and lactation. The litters were standardized to identical size at birth with 1:1 male to female ratio. The offspring were separated from their mothers at four weeks of age and subsequently received the intermediate sodium diet. The animals had free access to water and food and their body weight, food and water consumption were monitored weekly.

The kidney structure was assessed at postnatal weeks 1 and 12, and the expression of proteins known to be involved in kidney development were examined at birth and 1 week of age. Blood pressure was measured by telemetry in male offspring between the ages of two and nine months.

Results
The researchers found that the number of glomeruli (the main structural unit of the kidney) during weeks 1-12 were significantly lower, and the measured blood pressure for males after the fifth month was higher in offspring of mothers on high- or low- compared with intermediate-sodium diet. High salt diet was paralleled by higher concentrations of marinobufagenin in the amniotic fluid and an increase in the expression of both GDNF and its inhibitor, sprouty-1 in the offspring’s kidney. The expression of FGF-10, a genetic signal responsible for kidney development, was lower in offspring of mothers on low-sodium diet and the expression of Pax-2 and FGF-2, tissue-specific genes that determine cell lineages, tissue patterning, and cellular proliferation was lower in offspring of mothers on high-sodium diet.

Importance of the Findings
Taken together the above findings indicate that both too low and too high maternal salt intakes retard development of new glomeruli, resulting in a nephron deficit. If the findings in the animals in this study can be extrapolated to humans, both too low and too high salt intake during pregnancy would be a risk factor for hypertension and renal damage in the offspring.

In women, each mother-to-be has specific health issues and conditions that require guidance from a health provider. This study sheds light on the issue of salt intake during pregnancy and draws attention to the possible consequences of consuming too much or too little salt during pregnancy and the impact it may have on the kidney development of an offspring.

Posted in Hypertension Research, Salt - Sodium - Tagged maternal intake, salt

Religious Activity Does Not Protect Against High Blood Pressure

May02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Newswise — MAYWOOD, Ill. — Contrary to some earlier studies, a Loyola University Health System study has found that religious activity does not help protect against high blood pressure.

A survey of 200 residents of Maywood, Il., found no statistically significant association between most measures of religiosity and lower blood pressure. And in one measure of religiosity — bringing religion into other dealings in life — people who were more religious actually had higher blood pressure.

“It’s the opposite of what we expected to find,” said senior author Amy Luke, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
The study was presented April 30, 2011, at a meeting of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

Some previous studies have found that religious activity such as prayer, meditation and going to church help lower blood pressure. Some researchers have suggested that religious activity can counter factors that can boost blood pressure, such as stress, hostility, depression, hopelessness and loneliness. Also, the social support that people get from religious activities can promote better health.

But other studies have found that religiosity provides no benefit in controlling blood pressure.

“There have been contradictory findings, so the role of religion in chronic disease needs to be further examined,” said first author Laura Heinrich, a medical student at Stritch School of Medicine.

The study is among the findings from Loyola’s Maywood Community Health Project. Medical students surveyed Maywood residents to assess the effects of the recent recession on their health. (Loyola University Health System’s main campus is located in Maywood.)

Residents were asked if a doctor has ever told them they have high blood pressure. Residents also were asked questions about their religiosity, based on the Duke University Religion Index:
– How often do you attend church or other religious meetings?
– How often do you spend time in private religious activities, such as prayer, meditation or Bible study?
– In my life, I experience the presence of the Divine (i.e., God): True, tends to be true, unsure or not true?
– My religious beliefs are what really lie behind my whole approach to life: True, tends to be true, unsure or not true?
– I try hard to carry my religion over into all other dealings in life: True, tends to be true, unsure or not true?

Among participants who carried religion to other dealings in their lives, 35 percent said they had high blood pressure. Among those who do not carry religion to other parts of their life, 19.6 percent had high blood pressure. In the four other measures of religiosity, there were no statistically significant associations between religiosity and high blood pressure.

All participants were African American, and their average age was 40.9. Fifty-seven percent attended church at least a few times a month and 45 percent spent time daily in private religious activities such as prayer, meditation and Bible study.

The use of the multi-question Duke religion index is one of the main strengths of the study. Some previous studies asked about only one aspect of religiosity, such as church attendance.

A limitation of the study is how participants were recruited. Initially, participants were recruited through random neighborhood canvassing. But due to low participation, researchers asked a church to help in recruiting. It is possible that church members were more likely than other study participants to be aware they had high blood pressure, possibly through church screenings.

“The study is continuing and, with additional data, we hope to further clarify any association between hypertension and spirituality,” the authors wrote.

Other co-authors are David Shoham, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology; Lara Dugas, a research assistant professor in the same department; and Stritch medical students Nathan Kittle, Alicia Kurtz, Brittany Lees, Sharla Rent, Whitney Richie, Mark Stoltenberg, Stephanie Teng, Jaclyn Walsh, Michael Weaver and Maria Wusu.

“This study illustrates medical student research at its best,” Luke said.

Posted in Hypertension - Tagged high blood pressure

High Blood Pressure Puts Pressure on Employers

Apr23
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — A group of nine Kansas City employers, their broker consultant Lockton Companies, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Centers for Disease and Prevention Control, and Thomson Reuters are looking for ways to reduce high blood pressure or hypertension in the workplace.

he Mid-America Coalition on Health Care (MACHC) has responded to this concern with the Gateway Project, which is designed to assess and combat the growing burden of high blood pressure that is driving up health costs and reducing productivity.

The Gateway Project confirmed that high blood pressure was a prevalent condition and cost driver for Kansas City employers. High blood pressure is a major cause of other chronic conditions, such as heart disease and stroke, and contributes to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and disability. Yet, evidence shows it is easily detectable and controllable by lifestyle changes and medication.

The project team used InfoLock®, Lockton’s proprietary data mining warehouse, to collect health and cost data associated with hypertension; data provided by health risk assessments; and biometric screenings, to determine the health profile of each employer. A draft CDC tool was used to evaluate health promotion programs, policies and environmental supports adopted and currently used by Gateway employers. The combined data examined prevalence rates, related conditions and health risks, and how Gateway employers compared when it came to promoting healthy activities, creating policies and changing the workplace environment to reduce risks.

“Employers aren’t doing anything about hypertension because it’s not as visible as other diseases like cancer,” said Gateway Project participant Frankie Hagen of KU Hospital, “That is why the Gateway Hypertension Project is important.”

According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure was expected to cost the United States more than $76 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work in 2010.

Melissa Campbell of American Century Investments, one of the participating companies, said, “Employers are generally aware of the burden of hypertension but we’re not taking actions. That is what this project can do: move us to action.” She added, “During the next year, it is our hope to see better workforce hypertension management by using the support from project staff and health care experts to invest time and resources in the heart healthy solutions afforded to us.”

Early data from the Gateway Project employers showed just how difficult the problem is: while only 19.4 percent of employees reported that they had high blood pressure, more than 63 percent of those were found to have pre- or hypertension. The prevalence of pre- or hypertension is higher than any of the health risks examined, yet it is the health risk that the fewest employees (32 percent) report planning to work on in the next six months.

Perhaps even more striking was that 52 percent of the employees stated lowering their blood pressure was “not needed” in the next six months. The inconsistency between the self-report, the actual results and the perceived need for no action indicated an education opportunity to help employees understand their risk and what they can do about it.

Employers also recognized that in order to lower hypertension rates in their workforce, they must address other risk factors such as obesity, cholesterol and diabetes. Thirty percent of Gateway Project participants were considered to be obese or morbidly obese, with an additional 38.9 percent considered “at risk” for obesity. And, 38 percent of hypertensive employees within the participating population also have high cholesterol. The national average reported by the American Diabetes Association for prevalence of diabetics with hypertension is 75 percent; however medical and pharmacy data for Gateway employers found that 16 percent of their employees with hypertension also had diabetes, a figure significantly below the national average.

The draft CDC tool was used to evaluate how the nine employers scored their current workplace activities against evidence-based interventions stated in the tool. Each employer received a score based on the interventions they were already conducting, weighted by evidence base for that intervention and the impact it could have on health risks. How did they stack up? Gateway employers scored 93.9 percent for their obesity and overweight interventions; 68.9 percent for diabetes; and 54.9 percent for high cholesterol. Employers’ baseline results for high blood pressure were 51.6 percent of the possible total – lending emphasis to the Gateway Project’s focus on hypertension.

The remainder of the project will be focused on supporting employer efforts to adopt worksite interventions to combat hypertension and other chronic conditions. This fall, Gateway employers will be resurveyed to assess the impact of their actions.

Funding for this research was provided by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, New Jersey.

Posted in Hypertension, Hypertension Treatment Programs, Workplace Based

AHA: Breakfast Cereal Intake May Lower Hypertension Risk

Mar24
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

WEDNESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) — Eating breakfast cereals, especially whole grain cereals, is associated with a lower risk of hypertension (HTN), according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions, held from March 22 to 25 in Atlanta.

Jinesh Kochar, M.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues studied the association between breakfast cereal intake and the risk of incident HTN in 13,368 male participants from the Physicians’ Health Study I. During an average follow-up of 16.8 years, participants’ (average age, 52.4 years) self-reported cereal intake and HTN were assessed annually through follow-up questionnaires.

The investigators identified 7,267 new cases of HTN. The crude incidence rates of HTN for no breakfast cereal per week, up to one, two to six, or more than seven servings per week, were 35.4, 32.9, 30.7, and 28.7 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively. From the lowest to the highest category of cereal intake, the adjusted relative risks (RRs) for HTN were 1.0 (reference), 0.93, 0.89, and 0.81, respectively. From the lowest to the highest category of cereal intake, whole grain consumption showed stronger inverse association with HTN (RRs, 1.0 [reference], 0.89, 0.87, 0.80, respectively) compared to refined grain cereals (RRs, 1.0 [reference], 0.91, 0.86, 0.87, respectively).

“These results suggest that intake of breakfast cereals (especially whole grain variety) may confer a lower risk of HTN,” the authors write.

Abstract No. P036

Posted in Food Guidelines, Hypertension - Tagged cereal and hypertension

Authors Redefine Normal Blood Pressure

Mar09
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

As many as 100 million Americans may currently be misclassified as having abnormal blood pressure, according to Dr. Brent Taylor from the Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota and his colleagues.

Their findings (1) show that these people are not actually more likely to die prematurely than those with ‘normal’ blood pressure, i.e. below 120/80. Taylor and colleagues’ article in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (2), published by Springer, also shows that in those under 50, diastolic blood pressure* is the more important predictor of mortality, whereas in those over 50, systolic blood pressure* is the stronger predictor.

The authors argue it is time to consider a new definition of ‘normal’ blood pressure.

Taylor and colleagues examined the independent contribution of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) on mortality, as well as how these relationships might affect the number of Americans currently labelled as having abnormal blood pressure.

The authors looked at data for 13,792 people from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which enrolled participants in 1971-76 and followed them up for two decades – they studied DBP, SBP and long-term survival data specifically. In order to assess the underlying distribution of untreated blood pressure in American adults by age, Taylor and team also looked at data for 6,672 adults from the first National Health Examination Survey carried out between 1959 and 1962.They found that in people aged over 50, those with SBPs above 140, independent of DBP, were significantly more likely to die prematurely. In those aged 50 or less, DBPs above 100 were linked to significant increases in premature death. The authors’ analysis offers alternative cut-off points for the definition of ‘normal’.

Dr. Taylor concludes: “Our findings highlight that the choice of approach used to define normal blood pressure will impact literally millions of Americans. If we cannot reliably see an effect on mortality in a large group of individuals followed for nearly 20 years, should we define the condition as abnormal? We believe considering this kind of approach represents a critical step in ensuring that diagnoses are given only to those with a meaningful elevation in risk, and targeted towards individuals most likely to benefit.”

*Diastolic blood pressure is the lowest pressure within the bloodstream, occurring between heart beats i.e. when the heart relaxes. Systolic blood pressure is the highest pressure within the bloodstream, occurring during each heart beat i.e. when the heart contracts.

References

(1) Taylor BC et al (2011). Impact of diastolic and systolic blood pressure on mortality: implications for the definition of ‘normal’. Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOI 10.1007/s11606-011-1660-6

(2) The Journal of General Internal Medicine is the official journal of the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Posted in Hypertension - Tagged blood pressure

Hypertension in Kidney Transplant Patients

Mar03
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Hypertension Following Kidney Transplantation
Mario F. Rubin
Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease – January 2011
(Vol. 18, Issue 1, Pages 17-22, DOI: 10.1053/j.ackd.2010.10.006)

The majority of patients become hypertensive following kidney transplantation. Its occurrence is associated not only with increased fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events but also with decreased allograft survival. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and management of post-transplant hypertension.

Posted in Hypertension, Kidney Transplantation - Tagged kidney transplant