High blood pressure

Reducing kids’ salt intake lowers soft drink consumption

A reduction in salt intake could play a role in helping to reduce childhood obesity through its effect on sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption. – Children who eat less salt drink fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks and may significantly lower their risks for obesity, elevated blood pressure and later-in-life heart attack and stroke, researchers reported in the print and online issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Memory loss, less common in older Americans

Good news on gray matter: Memory loss and other cognitive impairment becoming less common in older Americans, U-M study finds; Better education, finances & cardiovascular care may be boosting brain health. – It appears that memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Americans. A new study shows a downward trend in the rate of “cognitive impairment” – the umbrella term for everything from significant memory loss to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease – among people aged 70 and older.

Herpes virus link to complications in pregnancy

Exposure to viral infection – especially viruses of the herpes group – may be associated with pregnancy-induced hypertensive disease (pre-eclampsia) and also with pre-term birth. – Viral infection with high blood pressure during pregnancy may lead to pre-term birth, revealed by researchers at Adelaide’s Women’s & Children’s Hospital and the University of Adelaide.

Aircraft noise raises blood pressure even whilst sleeping

Acute effects of night-time noise exposure on blood pressure in populations living near airports – Effects of noise exposure on elevated subsequent BP measurements were clearly shown. The effect size of the noise level appears to be independent of the noise source. – Night-time noise from aircraft or traffic can increase a person’s blood pressure even if it does not wake them, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. Scientists from Imperial College London and other European institutions monitored 140 sleeping volunteers in their homes near London Heathrow and three other major European airports.

Most with high blood pressure do not follow DASH diet

The dietary profile of adults with HTN (Hypertension) in the United States has a low accordance with the (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) DASH dietary pattern, and the dietary quality of adults with HTN has deteriorated since the introduction of the DASH diet, suggesting that secular trends have minimized the impact of the DASH message. – A relatively small proportion of individuals with hypertension (high blood pressure) eat diets that align with government guidelines for controlling the disease, according to a report in the February 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Healthy lifestyle for long life

70-year-olds who take regular exercise, eat well, and do not smoke greatly increase their chance of living until 90. – A healthy lifestyle during the early elderly years-including weight management, exercising regularly and not smoking-may be associated with a greater probability of living to age 90 in men, as well as good health and physical function, according to a report in the February 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Weight gain from artificial sweeteners

Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Diet drinks may actually make you put on weight rather than lose it. – Use of no-calorie sweeteners may make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the body, making it harder to regulate intake, revealed by researchers.

Parkinson’s disease risk reduced with high blood pressure drugs

People taking a widely used group of drugs known as calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure also appear to be cutting their risk of Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the February 6, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. – Parkinson’s disease risk is reduced in people taking drugs known as calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure, revealed by researchers in US.

Beetroot juice can beat high blood pressure

Research shows a daily dose of beetroot juice can beat high blood pressure. Drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables, might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. – Drinking just 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure, revealed by researchers at Barts and The London School of Medicine in a new study. Beetroot juice could have major implications for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Abbott to educate Chicago-area women about heart disease

Abbott named exclusive Chicagoland ‘Hometown’ Partner of the American Heart Association’s ‘Go Red for Women’ Campaign – As a leader in cardiovascular treatment and the exclusive Chicagoland “hometown” partner for the national “Go Red for Women” program, Abbott is partnering with the American Heart Association (AHA) to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death for women in America.

Health Newstrack