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Condition: Hypertension
Education: Harvard
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Total 81 results found since Jan 2013.
Making one change — getting more fiber — can help with weight loss
Getting to a healthy weight and staying there is an important way to prevent heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and other serious conditions. Many of us know firsthand just how hard it can be to reach and maintain that healthy weight. And there’s no shortage of ways to try to get there: You can count calories, carbs, or points. You can cut back on fat or sugar. You can try any number of popular diets that forbid certain foods, or focus on just one (the grapefruit diet, anyone?). Any of these approaches might work for you. Or they might not — in large part because they are complicated.
A study published in todayR...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - February 17, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Nancy Ferrari Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Healthy Eating fiber Source Type: news
Millions of adults skip medications due to their high cost
Medications can do wonderful things, from fighting infection to preventing stroke and warding off depression. But medications don’t work if they aren’t taken. Some people don’t take their medications as prescribed because they forget, or are bothered by side effects. A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics shines the light on another reason: some people can’t pay for their medications.
The survey, by NCHS researchers Robin A. Cohen and Maria A. Villarroel, found that about 8% of adult Americans don’t take their medicines as prescribed because they can’t afford them. I...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - January 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Howard LeWine, M.D. Tags: Drugs and Supplements medication costs Source Type: news
Wholegrains, not just porridge, may increase life
Conclusion
This analysis of two large prospective cohort studies from the US has found an association between higher wholegrain intake and a reduced risk of death during follow-up, particularly from heart disease.
The study benefits from its large size (more than 100,000 participants) and long duration, as well as the thorough collection of information on the participants as the study progressed (prospective data collection).
Our diets and lifestyles are very complex, and it is very difficult to entirely isolate the effect of one dietary component and remove the effect of all other factors.
However, the researchers have ...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 6, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news
This year's top 10 advances in cardiovascular disease
Progress in the fight against heart
disease and stroke came on many fronts during 2014, from novel drugs and
procedures to improvements and newfound benefits from existing treatments. In
the December 2014 Harvard Heart Letter, Editor in Chief Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt selected
10 of the most important advances.
New drugs cut cholesterol
levels by half. A new class of drugs, given by injection just once or twice
a month, can slash harmful LDL cholesterol levels by about 50%. Studies are
under way to see if any of these experimental agents, called PCSK9 inhibitors,
prevent heart attacks or improve heart disease survival.
Replacing...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - November 24, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
How to tame stubbornly high blood pressure
High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke
and heart disease. Dozens of medications and other therapies are available to
treat high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Yet many people can't
get their blood pressure under control even by taking multiple medications, reports
the September 2014 Harvard Heart Letter.
"When people have high blood pressure despite being on
three different medications, including a thiazide diuretic, they have what's
known as resistant hypertension," says Dr. Joshua Beckman, a cardiologist
at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Some people with resistant hypertension may...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - August 23, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Stress 'causes damage to the heart,' study finds
Conclusion
This research investigates the widely held perceived wisdom that psychological stress is associated with coronary heart disease.
It found 29 medical residents working in a stressful intensive care unit setting had increased levels of white blood cells, which form part of the immune system. The researchers also found exposing mice to chronic stress similarly increased their levels of certain white blood cells.
When they examined the bone marrow of stressed mice, they found this increase in the number of white blood cells seemed to be mediated by an increase in the activity of hematopoietic stem cells, which prod...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 23, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Mental health Source Type: news
Personalizing "lower is better" for blood pressure treatment
Many men with high blood pressure were surprised—and a little confused—when a panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health recommended a change in the treatment goal for people over age 60. Instead of taking medications to lower pressures to 140/90, they can now settle for a target of 150/90. Several factors come into play when deciding on the best blood pressure target, reports the May 2014 Harvard Men's Health Watch.
The ideal blood pressure is under 120/80. As it rises above that threshold, the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other health problems follows. Above 140/90, doctors generall...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - April 29, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Today's statin users consume more calories and fat, and weigh more, than their predecessors
People who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol appear to have developed a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses.
A new UCLA-led study suggests that people who took statins in the 2009–10 year were consuming more calories and fat than those who used statins 10 years earlier. There was no similar increase in caloric and fat intake among non–stain users during that decade, researchers said.
In 1999–2000, statin users were consuming fewer calories and less fat than individuals who didn't take these medications, but that is no longer the case. Increase...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - April 25, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Strokes 'may be linked to temperature', study finds
Conclusion
This retrospective study reports that there is an association between lower temperature and increased humidity and a slightly increased risk of ischaemic stroke. It was a large study, but there are several major limitations of this study design:
The temperature was matched with discharge dates. There is a wide variation in the length of hospitalisation after a stroke, so the temperature at discharge may be very different to the temperature when the stroke occurred.
The researchers assumed that changes in outdoor air temperature would have been experienced by all of the people who suffered from a stroke. It...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 13, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news
Daily low-dose aspirin can prevent heart attack and stroke but is often misused
Aspirin is often hailed as a wonder drug, thanks to its ability to help stave off heart attacks and clot-caused strokes. But fewer than half of people who could benefit from a daily low-dose aspirin take it, while many others take it when they shouldn't, reports the January 2014 Harvard Heart Letter.
If you don't have heart disease, but do have high blood pressure, diabetes, or other risk factors for heart disease, don't automatically assume that taking aspirin every day is a good idea. "A lot of people take aspirin who really shouldn't," says Dr. Christopher Cannon, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and profe...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - December 20, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Nut eaters may have a longer life expectancy
Conclusion
This study found that eating nuts is associated with a reduced risk of death from any cause, and that the more frequently nuts were eaten, the lower the risk of death. Eating 28g of nuts seven or more times per week was associated with a 20% reduced risk of death.
The researchers say that previous studies found that increased nut intake was associated with a reduced risk of several diseases (including type 2 diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, high blood pressure and diverticulitis), and that nut consumption has been linked to reductions in various risk factors for chronic diseases. Seeing whether nut consumption w...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 21, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Teen drinking linked to raised breast cancer risk
Conclusion
Alcohol consumption is already recognised as a risk factor for breast cancer. And this large, well-conducted study seems to confirm that young women between their first period and first pregnancy are particularly susceptible.
One limitation of the study is that the women were asked to recall their drinking habits when they were far younger, which could mean the results are less reliable. Also, other factors called confounders might have affected women’s risk of breast cancer, although researchers did adjust their findings for a range of other risk factors.
As the authors point out, it is crucial that youn...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 29, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Taking over the counter pain relievers safely
For aching joints or a throbbing head, millions of Americans turn to aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) every day. They are generally safe, but if not used carefully NSAIDs can have a dark side, according to the September 2013 Harvard Women's Health Watch.
NSAIDs are widely used because they perform double duty. “They not only relieve pain, but they reduce inflammation too,” says Dr. Lucy Chen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and attending physician in the anesthesia, critical care, and pain medicine department at Massachusetts General Hos...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - August 23, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Cocoa may improve blood flow to the brain in elderly
Conclusion
This study suggests that cocoa consumption may be associated with the manner in which blood flow and brain function interact among elderly people with vascular conditions.
A major limitation of this study is the method of analysis. While randomised controlled trials are considered to be the best method to determine the effect of a treatment or intervention (in this case, consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa) on a health outcome (neurovascular coupling), this strength depends on the ability to analyse outcomes in the intervention compared with the control group. In this study, the analysis of the intervention group...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 8, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Older people Source Type: news
10 steps to lower stroke risk
More than two dozen factors influence the odds of having a stroke. Some can't be changed, like getting older or having a family history of stroke. But a surprising number of these factors can be controlled, even when an underlying medical condition further ups the risk of stroke, reports the August 2013 Harvard Heart Letter.
"Stroke is potentially one of the most devastating illnesses that we see, and it's especially tragic when simply taking good care of one's blood pressure or some other preventive measure might have averted it," says Dr. Thomas Lee, MD, co-editor in chief of the Harvard Heart Letter.
There are two basic...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - August 1, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
