Hope of a breakthrough cure for high blood pressure that could save millions of lives every year

A cure for high blood pressure that could save millions of lives every year appears to be just around the corner.
Researchers believe they may be able to control production of an enzyme that can trigger the condition.
The breakthrough by Australian scientists is likely to lead to the creation of targeted drugs, which will slash the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
It could revolutionise treatment for the 10million Britons thought to suffer from the condition - five million without knowing it.

High blood pressure affects nearly a third of all under-65s and is the cause of 62,000 deaths in this country each year.
Scientists now understand how an enzyme called renin, which pushes up the odds of someone developing high blood pressure, can be over-produced in the kidneys.

They found that two molecules known as micro-RNAs can destabilise the production of the enzyme, according to a report in the Daily Express.
'This is a totally new concept,' said Professor Brian Morris, the Australian geneticist overseeing the study. 'Tremendously exciting.'
In the first study to use human kidneys, PhD student Francine Marques found that in the kidneys of those with high blood pressure, the renin gene was six times more active while the micro-RNAs were six times less so.
'That is the key,' said Prof Morris. 'These two micro-RNAs are very much lower in hypertensive people. So if you lose those, the renin goes up, thus raising blood pressure.'

Prof Morris, a professor of molecular medical sciences at Sydney University, first began studying renin as a young student in the early 1970s.
He now hopes the discovery will lead to the development of drugs which could 'knock down renin expression at its source' – stopping it from creating the high blood pressure.
Ms Marques said the findings, which are published online in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, were 'a huge breakthrough'.
The team used 42 kidneys donated by cancer patients who had the organs removed for medical reasons.
She said: 'The kidney has been suspected as being the culprit of high blood pressure. But human kidneys are hard to come by.
'As a result, no one had ever before studied human kidneys from hypertensive patients and no one has used the latest genomics technology to probe the kidney in human hypertension.'
Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'We’ve known for many years that renin is a key regulator of blood pressure.
'However, scientists are still a way off developing drugs that could help lower blood pressure by targeting someone’s genetic material.'
But breakthroughs of this kind are vital, he said, because of the very large death toll among those who suffer high blood pressure.
Often also linked to obesity, the condition forces blood through the arteries at an increased pressure.
Too much pressure puts a strain on the arteries and the heart itself. Left untreated it can cause an artery to rupture or the heart to fail.
Many British adults are prescribed low-dose pills to build up protection against high blood pressure on the NHS, yet almost half forget to take their medications daily.

 

Best Foods to Beat High Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure used to be high; if it topped 140/90. Not anymore: New medical guidelines say it should be under 120/80. That means nearly half of adults have a blood pressure problem.
Of course, medications and exercise can help lower it. But diet can equal drugs at controlling blood pressure, says Lawrence Appel, M.D., a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. In a landmark 1997 study, he found that a special DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet reduced high blood pressure an average 11.4 points (in the systolic, upper number) and 5.5 points (in the diastolic, lower number).
Since then the DASH diet has become the best-tested, most successful eating plan to prevent and reduce high blood pressure. Eating this way also lowers artery-clogging cholesterol and homocysteine, promotes bone mass, cuts weight and may help prevent cancer.
The diet calls for more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products. It prescribes less fat (especially saturated animal fat), red meat, sweets and sugary beverages. The benefits are greatest when you also restrict sodium and alcohol.
It's not entirely clear why eating the DASH way lowers blood pressure quickly (often within two weeks) and dramatically. Theories: "The DASH diet acts as a natural diuretic," says new Japanese research. Appel says high potassium and low sodium in fruits and vegetables help regulate blood pressure. Weight loss is well-known to lower blood pressure: In a new study, DASH dieters lost an average 13 pounds in six months; the percentage of those with high blood pressure fell from 37% to 12%. These recommended amounts are for a person who eats 2,000 calories a day.

• Grains and grain products (7 to 8 daily servings): 1 slice whole-wheat bread, 1/2 bagel, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 ounce unsalted pretzels
• Vegetables (4 to 5 daily servings): 1/2 cup tomatoes, potatoes, carrots
• Fruits(4 to 5 daily servings): 1 medium banana, orange, apple; 1/2 cup grapes, melon, berries
• Dairy products(2 to 3 daily servings): 1 cup fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt; 1 1/2 ounces fat-free or low-fat cheese
• Meats, poultry, fish(2 daily servings or fewer): 3 ounces lean, not fried; poultry is skinless
• Fat and oils(2 to 3 daily servings): 1 tsp. soft margarine, or olive or canola oil; 1 Tb. low-fat mayo; 2 Tbs. light salad dressing
• Nuts, seeds, dried beans(4 to 5 servings a week): 1/3 cup almonds, walnuts, peanuts; 1/2 cup dried beans, lentils
• Sweets(5 servings a week): 1Tb. sugar, jelly or jam; 1/2 cup sorbet

For best results, cut sodium, too
In one test, DASH dieters who cut sodium to 1,500 milligrams daily (2/3 tsp. salt from all sources) had the greatest reduction in blood pressure. Many Americans eat three times that much sodium.
Low-salt tactics include:

• Use spices, not salt, to flavor foods.
• Rinse canned foods, such as tuna and beans, to remove some sodium.
• Buy fresh, plain frozen or no-salt-added canned vegetables. Regular canned tomatoes have 10 times more sodium than no-salt-added tomatoes.
• Restrict cured meats (bacon, ham), foods in brine (pickles, olives) and condiments (MSG, soy sauce, mustard, ketchup).
• Cook rice, pasta and cereals without salt.

Beware of stroke when your blood pressure is unstable

People with occasionally high blood pressure are more at risk of stroke than those with consistently high readings, research suggests.

Current guidelines focus on measuring average blood pressure levels to spot and prevent the chance of a stroke.
But research suggests doctors should no longer ignore variation in test results and give drugs that produce the most steady blood pressure levels.
The Stroke Association called for national guidelines to be overhauled.
In the first of the series of studies published in The Lancet, UK and Swedish researchers looked at the variability in blood pressure readings at doctors' checks.

What we're saying is, don't discount that one-off high blood pressure reading Professor Peter Rothwell, study leader

They found those with fluctuating readings at different GP visits had the greatest risk of future stroke regardless of what their average blood pressure reading was.
A review of previous trials also found that the differences in effectiveness of several blood pressure drugs could be explained by how well they kept blood pressure on an even keel.
Some drugs, in particular beta blockers, were shown in a separate study in The Lancet Neurology, to increase variation in a patient's blood pressure.

'Major implications'
Professor Peter Rothwell of the Department of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford, who led the research, said the findings have major implications for how GPs spot and treat people at high risk of stroke.
"At the moment, the guidelines for GPs say not to believe a one-off unusual reading, to bring the patient back and measure again, and as long as it's not consistently high, there is no need to treat.
"What we're saying is don't discount that one-off high blood pressure reading."
He added that GPs would also need to make sure they prescribe the most effective drug combinations - ideally one that lowers blood pressure but also stabilises it.
It is not know exactly why occasional spikes would increase a person's risk of stroke but it is thought it puts undue stress on the system.

We urge GPs to read this research to help them prescribe the best treatment for people at risk of stroke Joe Korner, Stroke Association

"If you get rapid fluctuations that can cause turbulent flow of blood which can cause damage and stiffening in the arteries," said Professor Rothwell.
He said anyone with high blood pressure who tests themselves at home might want to mention to their GP if they spot variations in their results.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's guidelines on high blood pressure is in the process of being rewritten and these latest studies will be taken into account.
Joe Korner, director of communications at The Stroke Association said people who have occasional high blood pressure readings - known as episodic hypertension - are often not treated.
"With this new research it is now important that the clinical guidelines about treating high blood pressure are reviewed.
"In the meantime we urge GPs to read this research to help them prescribe the best treatment for people at risk of stroke."
Experts stressed that those already prescribed medication for high blood pressure should not worry or stop taking their pills.
Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation said: "Current practice is not wrong, but this might add a new measure to help doctors make decisions on who to treat for hypertension and which drug to use."

Antidepressants may cause high blood pressure in baby's lungs

Pregnant women who take antidepressants may slightly raise their offspring’s risk of developing high blood pressure in the lungs, new research suggests.
Even if antidepressants are to blame, however, the risk is very small. In the study, of 11,014 mothers who took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) late in their pregnancy, only 33 babies were born with persistent pulmonary hypertension. Of the 17,053 mothers who took it in early pregnancy, only 32 were born with the condition.
Women who had been treated for psychiatric conditions in a hospital in the past also had a higher rate of infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension, the study says.
”We recommend caution when treating pregnant women with SSRIs,” write the authors.
The study was published Thursday in the British Medical Journal.
In an accompanying editorial, researchers at the Motherisk program at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and the University of Oslo caution that the SSRIs may not be responsible for the development of persistent pulmonary hypertension, given that other studies have shown that pregnant women who are prescribed antidepressants often do not take them.
They also point out that the study found that women with previous psychiatric issues also delivered babies with persistent pulmonary hypertension though they did not take SSRIs during their pregnancies. They believe more studies are needed before SSRIs can be definitely linked to the development of the condition in infants.
Persistent pulmonary hypertension is an increase of blood pressure in the lungs that can cause difficulty breathing and has been linked to heart failure. The study,conducted by Swedish researchers, tracked 1.6 million births between 1996 and 2007 in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
The drugs analyzed in the study were:

• Fluoxetine.
• Fluvoxamine.
• Citalopram.
• Paroxetine.
• Sertraline.
• Escitalopram.

Factors considered in the study were maternal smoking, the body mass index (BMI) in early pregnancy, year of birth, gestational age at birth, birth weight and maternal diseases such as epilepsy, malignancies, arthritis, bowel disease, lupus and pre-eclampsia.

by CBC News

Normal blood pressure and how to keep it normal

Normal blood pressure is considered a blood pressure 120/80 mmHg. First value, 120 mmHg is systolic blood pressure, a pressure that develops in the moment of ejection of blood from heart into aorta. Lower value, 80 mmHg is a pressure in the moment when heart is relaxing and taking a new blood in.

Blood pressure is the force that blood creates on artery walls while pasing through the blood vessels. It is vital for function of human body. There is a natural gradient of pressure through the circulation system. That gradient ensures the blood flow from place of a higher pressure to areas of lower pressure. It is important to have normal blood pressure in order to prevent damaging of the vital organs that is caused by hypertension. Some people have naturally lowered blood pressure which is also considered normal if it doesnt cause any problems.

Blood pressure usually varies during the day. It is normally lower while you're sleeping and in the morning. When you get out of the bed it starts to rise and continues to rise until the afternoon. In the middle of the afternoon blood pressure is usually the highest. In the evening your blood pressure begins to drop again. If your blood pressure pattern is abnormal, and you have a high blood pressure in the morning you may have a health problem. You should contact your doctor.

There are many ways to keep a normal blood pressure, but getting a regular physical activity (30 min. - 1hr a day) is the most important way. Regular exercise will help your heart muscle to stay healthy and functional. Exercising regularly is stimulating circulation which helps eliminating artery clogging that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
there are diffent kinds of diets for maintaining a normal blood pressure recommended by professionals. DASH Diet focuses on vegetables and fruits and food with low fat. It invites you to reduce salt and saturated fats. It's low in cholesterol and there is enough protein, potassium, calcium, magnesium and fiber. Another dietary approach is Low Sodium Diet, also known as Salt Free Diet or No Salt Diet. If you are on diuretic for high blood pressure, then low sodium diet could be your best choice because you are salt sensitive. Salt retains water in the body, which increases  blood pressure. Since salt is the common ingredient in cans and processed foods, you should avoid them and make your own meal servings with fresh fruits, vegetable, meats, poultry and fish.  Other dietary approaches could include vegeterian diet, Mediterranean, Blood type diets and some others.

Genetics and high blood pressure

More than 20 new sections of genetic code have been linked to blood pressure by an international team of scientists.

Almost everyone will carry at least one of the genetic variants, according to studies published in Nature and Nature Genetics.
Researchers believe their findings could be used to develop new treatments.
The British Heart Foundation said lifestyle was still key to a healthy blood pressure.
High blood pressure - or hypertension - can run in families as well as being influenced by obesity, exercise and the amount of salt in the diet.
While the lifestyle risks are well known, the genetic element of hypertension has been poorly understood.
Researchers now say they have made a "major advance" in understanding the role of genes.
In the first study, scientists from 24 countries around the world analysed data from more than 200,000 people.

They identified 16 new points on the genome which were linked to blood pressure.

One of the lead researchers, Prof Mark Caulfield, from Barts and The London Medical School, said each genetic variant was in at least 5% of people, while some were much more common.
"This is having an influence across the population," he said.
Uncovering the genetic basis of blood pressure has revealed processes in the body which could one day be targeted with drugs.
One series of chemical reactions involving nitric oxide, which opens up blood vessels, has been highlighted as a potential target.
Gene puzzle
Prof Caulfield said: "There is substantial potential for moving the findings from the lab to the clinic.
"There are, in development or in existence, drugs which could be considered."
However, researchers say they have still uncovered only 1% of the genetic contribution to blood pressure.
A second study, presented in Nature Genetics, identified a further six new stretches of genetic code.
The British Heart Foundation's medical director, Prof Peter Weissberg, said: "Researchers from across the world have now identified some of the genes linked to blood pressure control, which could pave the way for new treatments in the future.
"But your genes are only one piece of the puzzle. You are less likely to have high blood pressure if you stick to a healthy diet, do plenty of exercise, and maintain a healthy weight."