Hypertension

Compliance with statin therapy in the first two years of use may reduce hospitalization rates and direct medical costs in the subsequent year.

A good argument can be made that we could save more lives and prevent more morbidity by aggressively diagnosing, treating and controlling hypertension than with any other condition given the knowledge and tools at our disposal at this time, but, according to Dr. Pullen, we are doing "a miserably poor job of controlling hypertension in America."

I thought I lost a patient a few weeks ago. No, he didn't die, but after his office visit, I had the distinct impression that he might not come back. My job is to take care of my patients' health. But sometimes I'm just the messenger.

Among the top study results presented during this session at the ACC 59th Annual Scientific Session, here are three focusing on pulmonary hypertension.

During the meeting, there were hundred of poster presentations. Hypertension-specific posters are profiled here.

In yet another outstanding set of poster presentations, the following were among the best under the heading "hypertension and heart failure."

Highlights from studies on the hypertension effects on the left ventricle, from posters presented at the 59th Annual Scientific Sessions of the ACC.

Poster highlights from the the 59th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.

The condition of patients with chronic diseases improves significantly with the use of at-home tools like blood pressure and glucose monitors.

A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) claims that hypertension could be thought of as a "neglected disease" due to the lack of attention it receives from public health officials and healthcare providers relative to the magnitude of hypertension-associated morbidity and mortality.

These CME programs explore key concepts in the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of heart failure in children and adults.

Direct patients to this site to learn more about the anatomy and function of the heart and circulatory system, the causes and symptoms of heart failure, and treatment options.

Recently, there has been some interesting data about stroke that is worth mentioning.

In addition to promulgating standards of care regarding glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which were discussed in part 1 of this series, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has also outlined blood pressure goals. This report will review these blood pressure goals and discuss important components of the physical examination for diabetic patients, including eye and renal evaluations.

The media has a field day with this statistic.

A task force put together by the European Society of Hypertension has released a new set of guidelines for the management of hypertension in children and adolescents.

Online medical records aren't very useful if no one can access them.

While reviewing the American Heart Association (AHA) 2008 Clinical Perspectives in the January 2009 issue of Cardiology Review, especially the article by Dr Ferdinand regarding African American beliefs and adherence to antihypertensive medications, it dawned upon me that a review of articles and data on hypertension in Asian Indians is also warranted, as this population is often overlooked.

Nonadherence to beta blockers, statins, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors is common (21%-29%) among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients who do not adhere to their medication regimens are at increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular hospitalizations, and revascularization procedures; thus, medication nonadherence should be a target for quality improvement interventions to maximize the outcomes of CAD patients.

In a well-done recent study, Dr P. Michael Ho and colleagues confirm previous data and clinical observations that many patients are nonadherent to their cardiac medications, and, importantly, this nonadherence adversely impacts outcomes, including cardiovascular mortality.

We found sex differences in the pattern of relative strength when riskfactor associations with death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) were evaluated across different periods of follow-up. In women, an increased risk in CVD-related death was associated with diabetes mellitus and smoking; this risk was most prominent in the early follow-up period. Our finding illustrates that clinicians should employ more intense preventive measures in women who are smokers or have diabetes.

A new sensor is being developed that might help alleviate the process of regulating and monitoring high blood pressure.