Hypertension

Even in hospital settings patients can suffer fatal cardiac events if they are not properly monitored. This is especially true at night when staffing numbers drop and families are not with their loved ones until morning.

The long-awaited SPRINT trial not only included patients that are often left out of clinical studies, it also provided physicians with much-needed guidance on more effective blood pressure management strategies.

When patients have a defibrillator implated they have many concerns about their overall health, including how it affects their sex life. Research has shown the importance of doctors and their patients working together through these issues.

While warfarin has long been a common treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation new medications are coming to the market which provide different benefits than the original option.

Heart disease is the number one killer of US women, but a national survey found cardiovascular health is not on most women's radar.

For overweight adults with type 2 diabetes, study results show that even light walking was linked to an average 10-point drop in blood pressure.

An analysis of 35 years of cohort data provides fresh information about the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Beta-blockers were one of the first modern medications used for the treatment of blood pressure. Before 1950, treatment options for hypertension were limited. The alphabet soup of medications -- reserpine, pentaquine, hydralazine, and guanethidine -- were notorious for inducing orthostasis, sedation, constipation, impotence, or blurry vision.

Study results suggest that screening for metabolic syndrome among patients taking antipsychotic medications occurs far less frequently than recommended by the guidelines.

When blood pressure remains high despite the use of three antihypertensive agents, a resistant hypertension diagnosis can be made. Well-known treatments are available, but novel approaches are showing promise.

There is no compelling evidence that testosterone therapy increases or decreases cardiovascular risk, according to a new position statement from the American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).The statement was issued in response to recent publications that have raised concern that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) increases cardiovascular risks in men and media reports about the dangers of testosterone therapy.

Elevated blood pressure was associated with an increased risk for diabetes, according to an analysis of the electronic health records (EHRs) and a meta-analysis.

After much criticism on the price of 2 new cholesterol-lowering drugs, Praluent and Repatha, Express Scripts said this week it will now include both drugs in its National Preferred Formulary.

Heart disease is a growing problem in the country and work has been done to improve the overall public health through a number of steps including cardiac imaging. That work is also focused on the proper blood pressure for patients of all ages.

Devoted soda drinkers began to lose their minds when an infographic outlining the harmful effects a single can of Coca-Cola has on the body in one hour began circulating the Internet. Now a new infographic has revealed what a Big Mac from McDonald's can do to the body in the same amount of time.

Physicians often fail to counsel recovering heart attack patients on whether they are at risk of having another myocardial infarction triggered by sexual activity. In a letter to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dietrich Rothenbacher, MD, MPH and colleagues have reassuring data.

Obesity is a growing problem around the world and new research has shown that even small amounts of physical exercise can make a big difference in keeping people from gaining too much weight.

As the European Society of Cardiology wraps up another successful congress in London there remains a buzz about the work being done by doctors around the world to help patients with a variety of conditions.

On a daily basis cardiologists face patients with a wide variety of conditions. A review of recent studies show just how far the treatment of many of these conditions have come.

If a patient requires bypass surgery one of the factors doctors will look at when considering the operation is the person's blood pressure. A recent study looked at whether it could be safe to operate when the patient's pressure is higher or lower than previously accepted.

A previously healthy 8-month-old girl presented to the emergency department with fever and increased work of breathing. She was hospitalized for hypoxia attributed to community-acquired pneumonia, treated with ceftriaxone, and weaned to room air over several days. On the morning of planned discharge, she was noted to have had persistently elevated blood pressures for the past 12 hours.

There could be a new first-line treatment for hypertension in patients needing diuretic therapy, according to research presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress conference in London, UK.

The benefits of naps for young children have been well established and utilized for many years. A recent study looked at whether taking a nap in the middle of the day could help hypertensive adults better manage their condition.

With a rallying cry of "Hands off Our Legs" protestors are due to picket the US Department of Health and Human Services over a proposed Medicare rule change that would affect amputees.

Friday could be a big day for cardiologists. The FDA is due to rule July 24 on what could be the first available PCSK9 inhibitor, one of a new class of cholesterol-lowering agents meant to help patients who cannot get their LDL levels low enough with statins. New York City cardiologist David Vorchheimer, MD. talks about his hopes for the new drugs, and a few concerns

The debate over which approach most benefits mother and baby still rages.

A recent study assessed patients with diabetes for the effects of perceived racial discrimination encountered during care, focusing on treatment outcomes such as glycemic control, blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol levels.

Public health ad campaigns are not so prevalent as they were a few decades ago. Primary care doctors in South Carolina have taken over where Madison Avenue left off. Cardiovascular disease has since fallen.

As the US population ages, better primary care is essential to keeping costs down. But so far, the new focus on that specialty has not resulted in adequate reimbursement, said Brent Egan, MD, speaking June 27 at a meeting of primary care physicians in Charleston, SC. He believes that will change.

The "sweet spot" where blood pressure control reduces cardiovascular risk without undue side effects may actually be a little higher than traditionally recommended for people with diabetes between ages 60 and 85.