With full membership, watch our educational and editorial videos, search the site, receive our newsletters, join discussions, download slides and much more.
A synergistic approach of educating general practitioners about hypertension control together with a program to send lay workers into people's homes to educate them about the management of high blood pressure has proven successful in low- to middle-income households in Pakistan.
Karachi, Pakistan - A simple strategy of training general practitioners about hypertension control once a year, combined with teaching lay healthcare workers to educate people in their homes, led to significant reductions in blood pressure among those with hypertension, in a study performed in Pakistan [1].
"This combined strategy is simple, is easy to scale up in a developing country, and does not require access to specialist services," say Dr Tazeen H Jafar (Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan) and colleagues in their paper in the November 2, 2009 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.Read full article »
Inside: Hypertension
Accredited educational programs,
supported by industry, developed by theheart.org
Read Dr. Kalaitzidis' review of the role of hypertension in the cardiovascular risk continuum, then watch Drs. Weber, Mancia, Williams, and Haller as they present the latest treatment options and preview important clinical trial data.
Microalbuminuria does not only signal worsening renal function but is an important marker in cardiovascular risk assessment. Join our expert panel, Drs. Izzo, Ruilope, and Weir as they discuss the interplay of diabetes and hypertension on the cardiovascular risk continuum.
Join Drs Giles, Elliott, Mason and White as they discuss a new approach to preservation of NO offered by the cyclooxygenase-inhibiting nitric oxide donating (CINOD) drugs, which may have an important role in treating arthritis patients with hypertension.
In the past year results of new outcome trials, particularly those involving angiotensin receptor blockers have enhanced the knowledge base for these therapeutic agents. At the same time new additions to the array of antihypertensive medications such as olmesartan offer new tools and the potential for physicians to improve control rates and make more qualified decisions for patients with uncontrolled hypertension with and without comorbidities.
Join Drs Ward, Grégoire, and McFarlane as they detail the role of ARB therapy and combination therapy in rapid blood pressure reduction and review the clinical trial data related to the efficacy of the available ARB agents.
The syndrome (defined by ATP III criteria) can predict increased cardiovascular and mortality risk or not, depending on which three of five risk factors contributed to the diagnosis, a cohort study suggests; its investigators caution that their observations are only preliminary.
More discussion about the J-curve in hypertension is published this week; one expert believes the undue attention being paid to this subject might discourage doctors from treating high blood pressure aggressively.
Long work shifts with nighttime on-call duty, with the inevitable interruptions of sleep, are associated with ECG, blood-pressure, and biochemical changes associated with increased cardiovascular risk, suggests a randomized crossover study that hints at a sustained effect on the risk markers if the 24-hour shifts happen too frequently.
A US update on the perioperative use of beta blockers for noncardiac surgery is, says the lead author, "similar" to recent European guidance on this issue.
Patients with ischemic heart disease and preserved LV function on standard therapy will gain additional benefit from taking ACE inhibitors, a new review concludes. The same cannot be said for ARBs, a drug class for which the evidence is much weaker, but these are a good substitute in those who cannot tolerate ACE inhibitors, the authors say.
The drug can now be used to reduce the risk of MI, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes in patients 55 years of age or older who are intolerant to ACE inhibitors but at high risk for cardiovascular events.
Two-thirds of the 156 trials considered by the AHA in preparing a recent guideline failed to even record the ethnic backgrounds of participants, a new study has found. The researchers call for the reporting of race/ethnicity to be mandatory in all clinical trials, and they suggest medical journals should enforce this policy.
Diuretics, especially hydrochlorothiazide, are as effective when given as second-line therapy for high blood pressure as they are when used as initial treatment, according to the first review to look at this issue.
Newly diagnosed hypertensive individuals who stuck to their antihypertensive therapy had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events than low adherers.
An association seen between mercury levels and blood pressure, even after considering omega-3s and selenium, has researchers warning about the need to weigh the risks and benefits of fish consumption and to steer clear of bigger predators.
The first prospective study using real data to inform the number of people suffering from and dying due to high blood pressure in China finds the problem is much worse than previously thought. A number of initiatives are planned to try to tackle this crisis.
How do regulatory pathways differ in the US and UK? Drs Harrington, Bhatt, and Cleland share their experiences and offer insight on how to support innovative research.
Join heartwire's Lisa Nainggolan as she talks to DrsFranz Messerli and Melissa Walton-Shirley about the results of the KYOTO HEART Study, what they mean for North American and European populations, and the future role of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs).
Is there an ideal blood-pressure goal? theheart.org's Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley catches up with hypertension expert and current president of the American Society of Hypertension, Dr Henry Black, to address this thorny issue and others.
Educational partnerships
This section is presented in collaboration with the