InfoMedSearch

Medical - Health Information and Search Services

HomeAbout UsOnline NewsletterSearch Services

Hypertension

Treatment is updated with the most recent articles listed on top.
To view only the last month's articles for the other sub-topics, go to our Monthly Online Newsletters page

If you have any questions regarding our Search Reports, please contact us at info@infomedsearch.com.

InfoMedSearch

Monthly Newsletter Alerts

Save Time. Stay updated monthly.

Read our selected articles on a monthly basis. Sign up for our monthly Newsletter alerts - view only our last month's selections.

Newsletter Notification Service Sign-Up

Hypertension

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia: Essential hypertension "Essential hypertension refers to high blood pressure with no identifiable cause. ...Usually, high blood pressure has no symptoms at all. That is why it is often called the 'silent killer.' "

NIH - High blood pressure (Hypertension) (Medical Encyclopedia) “Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and usually given as 2 numbers. For example, 140 over 90 (written as 140/90). • The top number is your systolic pressure, the pressure created when your heart beats. It is considered high if it is consistently over 140. • The bottom number is your diastolic pressure, the pressure inside blood vessels when the heart is at rest. It is considered high if it is consistently over 90. Either or both of these numbers may be too high. Pre-hypertension is when your systolic blood pressure is between 120 and 139 or your diastolic blood pressure is between 80 and 89 on multiple readings. If you have pre-hypertension, you are more likely to develop high blood pressure at some point. … Most of the time, no cause is identified. This is called essential hypertension. High blood pressure that results from a specific condition, habit, or medication is called secondary hypertension. Too much salt in your diet can lead to high blood pressure. Secondary hypertension may also be due to: • Adrenal gland tumor • Alcohol poisoning • Anxiety and stress • Appetite suppressants • Arteriosclerosis • Birth control pills • Certain cold medicines • Coarctation of the aorta • Cocaine use • Cushing syndrome • Diabetes • Kidney disease, including: o Glomerulonephritis (inflammation of kidneys) o Kidney failure o Renal artery stenosis o Renal vascular obstruction or narrowing • Migraine medicines • Hemolytic-uremic syndrome • Henoch-Schonlein purpura • Obesity • Pain • Periarteritis nodosa • Pregnancy (called gestational hypertension) • Radiation enteritis • Renal artery stenosis • Retroperitoneal fibrosis • Wilms' tumor “

NHS - Blood pressure (high) “Causes of high blood pressure There are two types of high blood pressure: • essential (or primary) high blood pressure - where there is no identifiable cause, and • secondary high blood pressure - where high blood pressure is the result of an underlying cause, such as kidney disease, or a particular type of medication that you are taking. Essential high blood pressure While the cause of essential high blood pressure remains unknown, there is compelling evidence to show that there are number of risk factors which increase your chances of developing the condition. These risk factors include: • age - the risk of developing high blood pressure increases as you get older, • a family history of high blood pressure - the condition seems to run in families, • being of Afro-Caribbean or South Asian origin, • obesity, • lack of exercise, • smoking, • excessive alcohol consumption, • high amount of salt in your diet, • high fat diet, and • stress. A number of other medical conditions have also been linked to an increase chance in developing essential high blood pressure, such as diabetes and kidney disease. Secondary high blood pressure A small amount of cases of high blood pressure (approximately 5%) are the result of an underlying condition or cause. These include: • kidney conditions, such as a kidney infection, or kidney disease, • narrowing of the arteries, • hormonal conditions, such as Cushing's syndrome (a condition where your body produces an excess of steroid hormones), • conditions affecting the tissue of the body, such as lupus (a condition where your immune system attacks healthy tissue), • medicines, such as the oral contraceptive pill, or the type of painkillers known as nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, • excessive alcohol consumption, and • illegal stimulants, such as cocaine, amphetamine and crystal meth”

Highlighted Articles

Prognostic Significance of Between-Arm Blood Pressure Differences (Hypertension. 2008) “Every 10-mm Hg difference in systolic BP between the arms conferred a mortality hazard of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.52) after adjusting for average systolic BP and chronic kidney disease. BP differences between arms are reproducible and carry prognostic information. Patients should have evaluation of BP in both arms at the screening visit.”

Salt intake, blood pressure and clinical outcomes. (Current Opinion in Nephrology & Hypertension. 2008) “Summary: Average sodium consumption in the US population is excessively high, and well above recommended limits. Because most sodium derives from processed and restaurant foods, a reduction of sodium in these sources, as recently called for by the American Medical Association, is necessary to reduce exposure.”

Natural antioxidants from tomato extract reduce blood pressure in patients with grade-1 hypertension: a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. (Am Heart J. 2006)"A short-term treatment with antioxidant-rich tomato extract can reduce blood pressure in patients with grade-1 HT, naive to drug therapy."

Visit InfoMedSearch's Home Page for all InfoMedLinks Cardiovascular Topics: Atherosclerosis, Atrial Fibrillation, Coronary Artery Disease, Cholesterol - Lipids, General Cardiovascular, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack), Peripheral Artery Disease, and Stroke.

Continue your InfoMedSearch research with our previous InfoMedLinks. Start with InfoMedLinks 2007.

Searching for more specific information related to your condition? InfoMedSearch researchers can search and provide you with a custom report. We can also keep you updated. Great Price! Check out our Search Services page. Use our experience to find the important medical information you need. Help protect you and your family's health.

Custom Search

Notes

The Guidelines section will contain 2008 and some 2007 updated published guidelines. To view Guidelines from previous years, view the Guideline sections or the Article sections or our Monthly Online Newsletter (under the Guidelines section).

Hypertension

Daily Treatment Report

In this Report:

Cognitive Therapy-CBT-Psychotherapy
Device Therapy
Drug Side-Effects and Interactions
Drugs
Exercise
General Information
Guidelines
Immunotherapy
Internet Sites
Nutrition
Other
Radiotherapy
Supplements-Vitamins-CAM
Surgery
Transplantation

Cognitive Therapy-CBT-Psychotherapy

Device Therapy

Drug Side-Effects and Interactions

Loop diuretic use and increased rates of hip bone loss in older men: the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study. (Arch Intern Med. 2008)

Thiazide diuretics, endothelial function, and vascular oxidative stress. (J Hypertens. 2008)

Drugs

Aggressive blood pressure control and stroke prevention: role of calcium channel blockers. (J Hypertens. 2008)

When not to use beta-blockers in seniors with hypertension. (J Fam Pract. 2008)

Exercise

Exercise Reduces Blood Pressure... ... But too few doctors recommend it to their patients, study finds “The researchers found that only slightly more than one-third of the people with high blood pressure said their doctor had told them to increase physical activity as a way of bringing down their blood pressure. Yet, 71 percent of patients with high blood pressure saw a drop in their blood pressure when they increased their physical activity, which means that they listened when doctors told them to exercise more, according to the report. "Non-pharmacological methods such as exercising are important in improving blood pressure control on a population level as this study looked at the cross-section of the U.S. population," Halm said. Studies have shown that small changes in blood pressure -- 2 to 3 mmHg -- could result in a 25 percent to 50 percent decrease in the incidence of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, Halm said. "That would result in an annual reduction of stroke, coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality by 6 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively," he said. Exercise -- as part of a comprehensive lifestyle-modification program including weight loss, low-salt diet, diets rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats -- has beneficial effects on blood pressure, Halm said.“

Walking At A Steady Pace Is The Most Effective Way To Reduce Blood Pressure

General Information

Treatment of Hypertension in Older Adults (Geriatrics & Aging 2008)

Twenty-four hour ambulatory blood pressure for the management of antihypertensive treatment: a randomized controlled trial (Journal of Human Hypertension 2008) “In conclusion, using 24-h BP for the management of antihypertensive therapy in patients with sustained hypertension leads to a greater BP reduction compared with a standard treatment strategy using office BP, although fewer antihypertensive drugs were used in the ambulatory BP group.”

Effects of Antihypertensive Drug Treatment on the Risk of Dementia and Cognitive Impairment (Pharmacotherapy. 2008) “Four randomized, placebo-controlled trials were conducted regarding treatment with antihypertensive drugs and incidence of cognitive impairment and/or dementia. Two of the four studies found that antihypertensive drugs significantly reduced the risk of dementia. However, the other two did not find a significant difference between use of antihypertensive drugs or placebo and the incidence of dementia. The antihypertensive drug classes that showed a significant reduction were ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, thiazide diuretics, and dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. The randomized, placebo-controlled trials were limited by a high differential dropout rate in both treatment and placebo groups and the use of various definitions of dementia and cognitive impairment. Increasing evidence has indicated that ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics are beneficial in reducing dementia risk compared with other antihypertensive drug classes”

Results of the Ontario Survey on the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension (CMAJ 2008)

Beta-Blockers in Hypertension: Should We Discard Them? “However, in the last few years, questions have been raised about the use of beta-blockers as first-line therapy for hypertension. A number of large studies and meta-analyses have suggested that patients with uncomplicated hypertension may be at greater risk of stroke with no benefit for the endpoints of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. … In the new 2007 review in JACC, the authors conclude that for patients with uncomplicated hypertension, there is a paucity of data or an absence of evidence to support the use of beta-blockers as monotherapy or as first-line agents. Given the risk of stroke, lack of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality benefit, numerous adverse effects, and lack of regression of target end-organ effects of hypertension (e.g., left ventricular hypertrophy and endothelial dysfunction), they said, “The risk benefit ratio for beta-blockers is not acceptable for this indication. Guideline committees should revise recommendations for beta-blockers as first-line therapy for uncomplicated hypertension.” “

Resistant hypertension: identifying causes and optimizing treatment regimens. (South Med J. 2008)

Mechanisms and treatment of resistant hypertension. (J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2008) "Hyperaldosteronism is now recognized as the most common cause of resistant hypertension, and all patients with resistant hypertension should be screened with a plasma aldosterone/renin ratio even if the serum potassium level is normal. Treatment includes removal of contributing factors, appropriate management of secondary causes, and use of effective multidrug regimens. Recent studies indicate that the addition of spironolactone to standard treatment induces significant BP reduction in most patients with resistant hypertension."

Guidelines

Key Articles and Guidelines in the Management of Hypertension: 2008 Update (Pharmacotherapy. 2008)

New Guidelines For Treating Resistant Hypertension “"Older age and obesity are two of the strongest risk factors associated with resistant hypertension and unfortunately, with an aging and increasing heavy population, we can anticipate resistant hypertension becoming more and more common," he said. "And people need to recognize the importance of blood pressure control. Persons with resistant hypertension are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes." Calhoun and colleagues emphasize in the statement that effective use of diuretics is essential for treatment of resistant hypertension. Calhoun said they recommend that a long-acting diuretic be part of the treatment regimen of all patients with resistant hypertension in order reduce fluid retention and thereby blood pressure.”

New hypertension guidelines (2008)

Filling the Gaps in Current Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension (Medscape Cardiology. 2008)

The New European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology (ESH/ESC) Guidelines (Ther Adv Cardiovasc Dis. 2008)

New Guidelines for Stubborn High Blood Pressure

NGC - Medical management of adults with hypertension. (2007)