http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Metabolic disorders, such as excess abdominal fat, raised blood pressure, higher levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides and lower levels of the beneficial HDL cholesterol can be found in children as young as 6 to 8 years of age, according to a study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland. These metabolic risk factors often accumulate in overweight children and, in the newly published study, this accumulation was linked with mild artery wall stiffness. Of single disorders, higher levels of insulin, triglyceride and blood pressure were associated with artery wall stiffness. In addition, boys with excess abdominal fat and higher blood pressure levels were related to a reduced arterial dilation after maximal exercise in a bicycle test. The results were published today in Circulation journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-metabolic-disorders-hardening-arterial-walls.html Cardiology Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:39:31 EST news286104973 Alternative therapies such as aerobic exercise, resistance or strength training, and isometric hand grip exercises may help reduce your blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-alternative-therapies-blood-pressure-aha.html Health Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:00:03 EST news285850085 even once or twice during routine medical care—can signal substantially higher risks of heart and kidney disease and diabetes, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-high-blood-pressure-pregnancy-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:00:05 EST news279805500 Home blood pressure monitoring may help patients with hypertension and stroke but did not improve blood pressure control for patients who had normal blood pressure at the start or those with disabilities, according to a randomized controlled trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-home-blood-pressure-benefit-patients.html Health Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:10 EST news271335080 (Medical Xpress)—Nearly half of patients taking medications for chronic conditions do not strictly follow their prescribed medication regimens. Failure to use medications as directed increases patients' risk for side effects, hospitalizations, reduced quality of life and shortened lifespans. Now, a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert says patients' poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens is connected to their beliefs about the necessity of prescriptions and concerns about long-term effects and dependency. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-medication-beliefs-strongly-affect-individuals.html Health Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:12:58 EST news269525566 An analysis of the relationship between several vascular function measures and blood pressure levels finds that certain measures including higher aortic stiffness were associated with a higher risk of new hypertension; however, initial blood pressure was not independently associated with risk of progressive aortic stiffening, suggesting that vascular stiffness may be a precursor rather than the result of hypertension, according to a study in the September 5 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-stiffening-aortic-wall-linked-high.html Cardiology Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:00:10 EST news265964540 Patients with uncontrolled renovascular hypertension saw a significant improvement in their blood pressure with renal artery stent deployment. The multicenter HERCULES trial, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the RX Herculink Elite Stent, found that patients with higher blood pressure levels at baseline had the most dramatic reduction in blood pressure following intervention. Trial details appear in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-kidney-stenting-lowers-blood-pressure.html Cardiology Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:35:36 EST news265548927 Men with large waists urinate more frequently than their slimmer counterparts, according to research in the August issue of the urology journal BJUI. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-men-large-waists-frequent-urination.html Health Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:49:15 EST news262950521 Lifestyle behaviour in adolescents may adversely affect blood pressure and cardiovascular risk in adulthood, according to results from a large pregnancy follow-up study in Australia. In particular, alcohol consumption among boys, use of the Pill among girls, and high salt intake and increasing body mass index (BMI) in both sexes were important factors linked to blood pressure levels in late adolescence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-oral-contraceptive-girls-alcohol-consumption.html Cardiology Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:32:11 EST news261210718 (HealthDay) -- A large proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis are underdiagnosed and undertreated for cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-psoriasis-patients-undertreated-cv-factors.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:40:01 EST news259577534 Several medical organizations have recently recommended that doctors switch from using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth curves to the World Health Organization (WHO) growth curves to better determine overweight and obesity in children in Canada aged 5 years. However, a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) shows no advantage in using one over the other. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-growth-distinct-advantage-cdc.html Health Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:40:06 EST news255016256 In the study, all-cause and CVD mortality risks were found to be significantly higher among study participants that didn't exercise compared with active participants at all blood pressure levels. Moreover, the excess mortality risks of physical inactivity, when converted into a "blood pressure equivalence of physical activity" measurement, revealed that physical inactivity was similar to a rise in mortality risk equivalent to an increase in blood pressure of 40-50 mmHg. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-death-cardiovascular-disease-people-high.html Cardiology Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:54:15 EST news254022848 Will you have a heart attack or a stroke in your lifetime? Your odds may be worse than you think. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:00:07 EST news246710496 Although there have been cardiovascular safety concerns about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications because of their ability to increase heart rate and blood pressure levels, an analysis that included more than 150,000 ADHD users found no evidence of an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death associated with current use compared with nonuse or rare use among young and middle-aged adults, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released early online because of its public health importance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-cardiovascular-events-adults-adhd-medications.html Attention deficit disorders Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:00:01 EST news242905723 People with prehypertension had a lower risk of stroke when they took blood pressure-lowering medicines, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-blood-pressure-medicines-people-prehypertension.html Cardiology Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:00:02 EST news242574712 Among patients who experienced an ischemic stroke, systolic blood pressure levels of less than 120 mm Hg, or higher than 140 mm Hg, were associated with an increased risk of subsequent stroke, according to a study appearing in the November 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease. This issue is being released early online to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-range-systolic-bp-ischemic-recurrent.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:24:21 EST news240575054 E-counselling can significantly lower blood pressure, improve lifestyle and enhance quality of life, says Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Dr. Robert Nolan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-e-counselling-results-lowering-blood-pressure.html Cardiology Sun, 23 Oct 2011 06:35:26 EST news238570517 People with prehypertension have a 55 percent higher risk of experiencing a future stroke than people without prehypertension, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a new meta-analysis of scientific literature published in the September 28 online issue of the journal Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-blood-pressure-slightly.html Neuroscience Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:38:57 EST news236446729 Treatment and awareness of hypertension in Canada have improved significantly in the last 25 years for community-dwelling adults, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-hypertension-canada-significantly.html Health Mon, 16 May 2011 12:27:41 EST news224767623