Increased fat in children raises their blood pressure risk

Dallas, TX – If your children are overweight or obese, their risk of having high blood pressure is almost three times higher than children at normal weight, according to new research in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

A study of 1,111 healthy Indiana school children over a period of 4.5 years revealed that when the children’s body mass index (BMI) reached or passed the 85th percentile — the beginning of the overweight category — the adiposity effect on blood pressure was more than four times that of normal weight children. Adiposity is fat under the skin and surrounding major organs. [Read more]

Healthy lifestyle habits lower heart failure risk by significant percentages

Dallas, TX – If you don’t smoke, aren’t overweight, get regular physical activity and eat vegetables, you can significantly reduce your risk for heart failure, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

In a new study, people who had one healthy lifestyle behavior decreased their heart failure risk, and each additional healthy behavior further decreased their risk. [Read more]

Blacks develop high blood pressure one year faster than whites

Dallas, TX – African-Americans with prehypertension develop high blood pressure a year sooner than whites, according to research reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Blacks with prehypertension also have a 35 percent greater risk of progressing to high blood pressure than whites, according to health records of 18,865 adults 18 to 85.

Prehypertension is blood pressure ranging between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg. Hypertension is 140/90 mm Hg or higher. [Read more]

Poor sleep quality increases risk of high blood pressure

Dallas, TX – Reduced slow wave sleep (SWS) is a powerful predictor for developing high blood pressure in older men, according to new research in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

SWS, one of the deeper stages of sleep, is characterized by non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) from which it’s difficult to awaken. It’s represented by relatively slow, synchronized brain waves called delta activity on an electroencephalogram. Researchers from the Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men Study (MrOs Sleep Study) found that people with the lowest level of SWS had an 80 percent increased risk of developing high blood pressure. [Read more]

Genes play greater role in Heart Attacks than Stroke, Researchers say

Dallas, TX – People are significantly more likely to inherit a predisposition to heart attack than to stroke, according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, an American Heart Association journal.

The study results have implications for better understanding the genetics of stroke and suggest the need for separate risk assessment models for the two conditions.

“We found that the association between one of your parents having a heart attack and you having a heart attack was a lot stronger than the association between your parent having a stroke and you having a stroke,” said senior author Peter M. Rothwell, M.D., Ph.D., professor of clinical neurology at Oxford University in England. “That suggests the susceptibility to stroke is less strongly inherited than the susceptibility to heart attack.” [Read more]

Obstructive Sleep Apnea linked to Blood Vessel Abnormalities

Dallas, TX – Obstructive sleep apnea may cause changes in blood vessel function that reduces blood supply to the heart in people who are otherwise healthy, according to new research reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

However, treatment with 26 weeks of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improved study participants’ blood supply and function. [Read more]

Eleven Strategies for Stroke Prevention

May is National Stroke Awareness Month

Yonkers, NY – About every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke, and more than 77 percent are first events. In a new report available online at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org, Consumer Reports Health identifies eleven strategies for stroke prevention.

“Many people don’t realize that by making healthier lifestyle changes, they can cut their risk of stroke dramatically,” says Orly Avitzur, M.D., medical adviser, Consumer Reports Health, and a board-certified neurologist. “American adults have their work cut out for them; only a very small fraction of people in their 40s and 50s have a handle on the major cardiovascular risk factors for stroke. Fortunately, many of those risk factors can be reduced or eliminated by controlling blood pressure, improving cholesterol levels, reining in diabetes, and quitting smoking.” [Read more]

Less Salt means more Health

World Salt Awareness Week is March 21st-27th, 2011

Nashville, TN - Salt shakers may be as common on our dining tables as plates and silverware, but Tennesseans are reminded of the importance of reducing salt intake to improve health. The Tennessee Department of Health is working to educate Tennesseans about the link between high salt intake and disease during World Salt Awareness Week, observed March 21st-27th this year.

“Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in Tennessee, and diabetes is number seven, but we can reduce our risk of these diseases by lowering our salt intake,” said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. “There are simple ways to lower the amount of salt in our meals without sacrificing the good tastes we all enjoy.” [Read more]

Reduce your risk for Heart Attack and Stroke

February is American Heart Month

Nashville, TN – Uncontrolled high blood pressure and high cholesterol are risk factors for heart attack and stroke. New information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows most Americans affected by these conditions are not managing them properly. As part of the observance of American Heart Month this February, the Tennessee Department of Health is reminding Tennesseans how to reduce these risk factors.

“There are a variety of low-cost, highly effective treatments available for high blood pressure and cholesterol,” said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. “Simple lifestyle changes can also help reduce our risk of these potentially deadly health conditions. We urge Tennesseans to talk with their healthcare providers about lowering sodium, fat and cholesterol in their diets, and finding a healthy level of physical activity.” [Read more]

Population-wide Reduction in Salt Consumption Recommended

Dallas, TX – The American Heart Association today issued a call to action for the public, health professionals, the food industry and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume daily – which is currently more than two times higher than the recommended upper limit of 1,500 mg daily, with 77 percent of that consumption coming from packaged, processed and restaurant foods.

In an advisory, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the association sets out the science behind the American Heart Association’s recommendation for the general population, which is to consume no more than 1500 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day because of the harmful effects of sodium – elevated blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease. Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) is a major public health problem – approximately 90 percent of all Americans will develop hypertension over their lifetime.

[Read more]

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