Copyright 2008 Medical News Today Latest Hypertension News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/hypertension/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107083.php High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels appear to be risk factors for retinal vein occlusion, a condition that causes vision loss, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Retinal vein occlusion occurs when one or more veins carrying blood from the eye to the heart become blocked, according to background information in the article. Mon, 12 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107043.php The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells. Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106540.php NicOx S.A. (Euronext Paris: COX) announced the results of a U.S. phase 2 study, conducted by its partner Pfizer Inc, which compared the safety and efficacy of various doses of PF-03187207 to Xalatan(R) (latanoprost) 0.005% in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106448.php Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that a protein that appears to have protective and perhaps healing effects for failing hearts also plays a similar role in high blood pressure. They found lower-than-normal levels of the protein S100A1 in cells that line blood vessel walls in animals with high blood pressure.When the researchers, led by Patrick Most, M.D. Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106444.php The best available treatment for chronic kidney disease from high blood pressure did not keep the disease from substantially worsening in about a fourth of African-Americans studied, according to long-term results of a National Institutes of Health study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Tue, 06 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106328.php Perching on an exam table with arms and legs dangling is not the most accurate (nor medically recommended) position for a blood pressure check, according to a study released in the April 2008 issue of MEDSURG Nursing. Mon, 05 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106219.php In The Lancet, international health experts call for urgent action from international development banks and pharmaceutical companies to stem the epidemic of blood pressure-related diseases affecting developing countries worldwide.New findings reveal that each year 8 million people die from heart disease and stroke, the two leading blood pressure-related diseases. Mon, 05 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106215.php Focused and inexpensive measures improved high blood pressure control and treatment among veterans, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 9th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.Researchers observed 53,936 Veteran Affairs (VA) patients for 39 weeks (21 weeks before and 18 weeks after the interventions) during outpatient visits for hypertension. Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106230.php Despite the well-known dangers of high blood pressure, major shortfalls still exist in the screening, treatment and control of the disease even when patients are getting a doctor's care, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106181.php Long thought to be a problem only for high income countries, now 80% of deaths connected to high blood pressure (HBP) occur in the developing world. These are the conclusions of authors of an Article in this week's edition of The Lancet. Cardiovascular disease is now endemic worldwide and no longer limited to economically developed countries. Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106179.php GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that the European Commission has issued marketing authorisation for Volibris® (ambrisentan) for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) in patients classified as World Health Organisation (WHO) Functional Class II and III, to improve exercise capacity.1 Efficacy has been shown in idiopathic PAH (IPAH) and in PAH associated with connective tissue disease. Fri, 02 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106071.php Despite the well-known dangers of high blood pressure, major shortfalls still exist in the screening, treatment and control of the disease even when patients are getting a doctor's care, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Fri, 02 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106068.php University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and - in a remarkable finding - prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension. Fri, 02 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106050.php A new analysis of data from the landmark Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial - Blood Pressure Lowering Arm (ASCOT-BPLA) published today in Diabetes Care has identified the major predictors of new-onset diabetes (NOD) in patients with hypertension. In particular, the data show that hypertensive patients allocated to amlodipine and the ACE inhibitor perindopril (Coversyl(R), Servier) were 34% (HR 0.64 95% CI 0.59 to 0. Fri, 02 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106003.php Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced the initiation ofATHENA-1, a Phase IV, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating Letairis®(ambrisentan 5 mg and 10 mg tablets) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)demonstrating a sub-optimal response to sildenafil monotherapy. ATHENA-1 is the first of severalPhase IV Letairis studies Gilead plans to initiate in 2008 and 2009. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105853.php The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain is this week issuing new guidance for pharmacists on how to assist patients in managing hypertension. The existing guidance has been updated to reflect the changing role of community pharmacists as they take on more clinical responsibility. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105836.php Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a gas most commonly associated with the smell of stink bombs, sewage and rotten eggs, but a team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England and King's College London have now identified a role for this gas in regulating blood pressure, according to research published in the leading science journal Circulation. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105725.php May is Hypertension Awareness Month, and a new device in high blood pressure clinical trials is showing promise for treating U.S. hypertension (high blood pressure) patients whose condition is not controlled by drugs. Rheos® Hypertension (HT) Therapy is an implantable device designed to lower high blood pressure - the number one risk factor for stroke, heart and kidney disease. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105716.php Researchers from Berlin, Germany have identified variations in a gene, which contributes to heart failure in the presence of hypertension. The gene, Ephx2, encodes an enzyme (soluble epoxide hydrolase) that normally degrades specific epoxides. In this case, the epoxides can be cardioprotective in the setting of heart failure but not necessarily relevant for healthy individuals. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105595.php Even when their blood pressure is kept strictly under control with the best available medicine, African-American patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) continue to lose their kidney function over time, research led by a Johns Hopkins team shows. The finding suggests that treating CKD in this population may be vastly more complex than researchers had previously thought, with blood pressure control being only one piece of the therapeutic puzzle. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105564.php GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that the European Commission has issued marketing authorisation for Volibris® (ambrisentan) for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) in patients classified as World Health Organisation (WHO) Functional Class II and III, to improve exercise capacity. [i] Efficacy has been shown in idiopathic PAH (IPAH) and in PAH associated with connective tissue disease. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104808.php Electronic handheld blood pressure devices are automated blood pressure measuring devices used for measuring blood pressure at regular intervals, without causing inconvenience to the individual's daily routine. Rising healthcare expenditure and rapidly aging population are key factors contributing towards a rise in demand for such devices, particularly in the developed regions of the world. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104741.php Bayer Schering Pharma was granted European marketing authorization for its new antihypertensive fixed dose combination drug PritorPlus® 80/25 and Kinzalkomb® 80/25 (80 mg telmisartan/25 mg hydrochlorothiazide) by the European Commission. The new formulation will be launched in Germany later this month, to be followed soon by selected countries in the EU. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104737.php Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation of the new powerful strength of their fixed dose combination antihypertensive drug MicardisPlus® 80/25 in all 27 EU member states. It will be launched in Germany and Denmark in the coming weeks, followed soon by Ireland, the United Kingdom and the rest of EU, and when approved also in other countries around the world. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104159.php Pharmacopeia (Nasdaq: PCOP), an innovator in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics, announced that results from the company's Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating PS433540, its first-in-class Dual Acting Receptor Antagonist (DARA), will be presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) Twenty-Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans, May 14-17, 2008.