Central Agonists For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion
In summary, central agonists, a notable class of hypertension medications, offer an alternative modality when other first-line antihypertensive treatments fail to show desired results or cause intolerable side effects.
They operate via a unique neurocentric mechanism that primarily functions centrally in the brain, impacting blood pressure regulation by decreasing systemic arterial pressure and heart rate.
Despite their potential side effects and potential for interactions with other drugs, their therapeutic utility in the context of hypertension management remains undiminished.
Moreover, certain cen...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 27, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
Potassium: The Silent Ally In Your Battle With Hypertension
Conclusion: Balancing Potassium Intake As Part Of An Overall Healthy Lifestyle
While elevating your potassium intake can be instrumental in your battle against high blood pressure, it’s essential to remember that it’s part of a broader health strategy. There’s no magic bullet in managing blood pressure. A symphony of lifestyle adjustments working in harmony is what lays the groundwork for victory.
Eating an overall healthy diet, limiting your sodium intake, getting regular exercise, and quitting smoking if needed – all these factors dance hand in hand with your potassium intake. These habits f...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 26, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
Mitochondrial Copy Number in Immune Cells Strongly Correlates with 15-Year Mortality
We examined a random population sample in 2003/2005 (n = 9,360, age 45-69, the HAPIEE project) and followed up for 15 years. Using a nested case-control design, we selected non-external deaths among those free from baseline cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer (n = 371), and a sex- and age-stratified control (n = 785). The odds ratios (ORs) of death were 1.06 per one-decile decrease in mtDNA-CN independent of age, sex, metabolic factors, smoking, alcohol intake, and education.
The age-sex-adjusted ORs of death in the second and first tertiles of mtDNA-CN vs. the top tertile were 2.35 and 1.59; an increased risk ...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 25, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Matthew ’ s tidbits: Obesity Summer
Every time I get around to sending out the THCB READER I add a short & usually not to sweet commentary on some aspect of health care.–Matthew Holt
I saw the obesity crisis up close this week. And by that I’m not just referring to my addiction to Salted Caramel with Pretzel Ice Cream, bad though it is. Instead I felt thin because I went to Disneyland. But while I tip the scales at a BMI of 30 if I’m lucky, I genuinely felt that looking around Disneyland more than 50% of the crowd were obese and many morbidly so.
The rest of my trip to Southern California was quite a contrast because I’ve be...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 24, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy Matthew Holt obesity epidemic Ozempic Source Type: blogs
Consciously Exploring Your Relationship with Drugs
Humanity has a complex, long-term relationship with a wide variety of drugs. In this article let’s delve into your personal relationship with drugs, how you frame them, and how you might upgrade these relationships to be more conscious and aligned with your path of self-development. Let’s include common drug sources like coffee, tea, and chocolate too, so this will be very inclusive.
My purpose here isn’t to encourage or discourage you from using any particular substances but rather to invite you to take a more conscious and honest look at your current frames, attitudes, biases, and behaviors, and dete...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - July 21, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Emotions Health Lifestyle Relationships Values Source Type: blogs
Eggs And High Blood Pressure: Decoding The Dietary Dilemma
Conclusion
In navigating the winding road of managing high blood pressure, several key points emerge. Eggs, while a source of ongoing debate, can form part of a balanced diet for most people. It’s essential, though, to consider your entire dietary pattern, emphasizing heart-healthy choices like those found in the DASH and Mediterranean diets.
Avoiding processed meats and sugary breakfast options, while incorporating nutrient-dense foods, can significantly impact your blood pressure management. But remember, it’s not all about diet. A comprehensive approach, involving regular physical activity, stress mana...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 21, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
The Sweet Spot of Health Care Cost Containment
BY BEN WHEATLEY
As health care continues to move in the direction of unaffordability, policy makers are considering a range of options to bring down health care costs. The Health Affairs Committee on Health Care Spending and Value has identified four broad areas for reform, including administrative savings, price regulation and supports for competition, spending growth targets, and value-based payment. These measures appropriately target health care’s supply side and the excesses that exist in the health care system.
In this blog, I would like to highlight another avenue for savings: one that focuses on the demand ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 19, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Ben Wheatley Health Care Cost Containment Health care spending Source Type: blogs
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Unraveling Its Impact On Heart And Lungs
Conclusion
Navigating the complexities of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) might seem daunting. However, with the right knowledge and proactive approach, it’s possible to manage the condition and maintain a good quality of life.
PAH, a unique type of high blood pressure affecting the arteries in the lungs, can put extra strain on the heart. Over time, this can lead to heart failure. The condition’s root cause may vary, from genetic factors to other health issues like heart defects, liver disease, or autoimmune diseases. Remember, sometimes the cause remains unknown, resulting in idiopathic pulmonary ...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 19, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
No, the Poor Don ’ t Always Have to Be With Us
BY KIM BELLARD
OK, for you amateur (or professional) epidemiologists among us: what are the leading causes of death in the U.S.? Let’s see, most of us would probably cite heart disease and cancer. After that, we might guess smoking, obesity, or, in recent years, COVID. But a new study has a surprising contender: poverty.
It’s the kind of thing you might expect to find in developing countries, not in the world’s leading economy, the most prosperous country in the world. But amidst all that prosperity, the U.S. has the highest rates of poverty among developed countries, which accounts in no small part ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 18, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Anti-Poverty Medicine Kim Bellard TANF Source Type: blogs
American Heart Association Still Refuses to Tell the Truth About EVALI and Makes No Specific Recommendation that Youth Avoid Vaping THC Products
In an American Heart Association (AHA) " scientific statement "published this week in the journalCirculation, the AHA continues to confuse the public about the so-called EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury) outbreak that occurred in 2019, suggesting that it may be due to " flavoring agents, " " viruses, " or " bacteria " and that no specific agent has been identified as the cause. Despite the fact that vitamin E acetate was found in a miraculous 94% of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of EVALI patients, that no putative contaminant has ever been found in a non-tainted nicotine-containing e-cigarettte, tha...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - July 17, 2023 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Physician burnout is a threat, no different from the spread of a virus —here ’ s how to fix it
Few problems in health care are more vexing or persistent than physician burnout. It’s a problem that poses a serious threat to patient care, no different from the spread of a virus or the impact of cigarette smoke. And it has only gotten worse since the pandemic. Burned-out physicians are less effective as healers. They
Read more…
Physician burnout is a threat, no different from the spread of a virus—here’s how to fix it originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 15, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Ben Kornitzer, MD Tags: Physician Practice Management Primary Care Source Type: blogs
Mindlessness
Academy Health is the rather oddly named society for health services researchers. They sent me a press release which I excerpt: Today, the House Appropriations Committee released a
breathtakingly reckless bill that decimates federal research, science,
and medicine programs, and puts the health of all Americans at risk. It
is so extreme that many pundits presume it has zero chance of becoming
law, but that very extremism requires that we respond quickly and
unequivocally. . . . " This bill would eliminate the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) in its entirety. AHRQ supports r...
Source: Stayin' Alive - July 14, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become a leading cause of death globally, necessitating the adoption of preventive measures, early detection, and effective management strategies.
Hypertension, a significant risk factor for CVD, requires active management to mitigate associated risks.
Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) have emerged as a favored choice among healthcare professionals due to their effectiveness and unique benefits.
ARBs offer several advantages compared to other blood pressure medications. They effectively control blood pressure, protect vital organs such as the heart and kidneys, ...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 11, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
Psychedelic Science 2023 – Key Takeaways
In my previous post I shared my detailed review of the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver. In this post I’ll summarize my key takeaways after further reflection.
Effectiveness
There was abundant evidence of the transformational effectiveness of psychedelics, which shows great promise in treating issues like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction, especially at relatively high doses (like 30-40mg of psilocybin).
Psychedelics can also create powerful effects that people describe as spiritual. Given a high enough dosage, most people report a profound mystical experience that they claim to be one of...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - July 8, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Health Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Psychedelic Science 2023 – Full Conference Review
In June I attended the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. We were told this was the largest psychedelic-related gathering in the history of the planet, attracting about 12,000 attendees and 500 speakers. In this post I’ll share about my experiences and insights from the conference.
Here’s a pic from inside the Bellco Theater where the main keynotes were held.
The Colorado Convention Center is sizable, and sessions were spread across many different rooms. Even though I didn’t do extra exercise on this trip, I was typically hitting about 1000 calories ...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - July 7, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Health Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
