High Blood Pressure

A drug that doctors feared would hurt heart-failure patients has turned out to be the very medicine that might save their lives.In preliminary results reported yesterday at the American Heart Association meeting, researchers from the University of zTC Maryland Medical Center found that adding an old drug -- the beta-blocker metoprolol -- to the treatment of heart-failure patients increased survival by about 35 percent.The evidence was so strong that physicians overseeing the international study of nearly 4,000 patients had to stop it almost three years early.

Investigating conditions from lupus to hypertension, scientists have begun to confront one of the most perplexing questions in disease: How does race shape a person's health?Piece by piece, they are trying to unravel the web of influences that frame our collective destinies, forecasting which ethnic group must struggle with asthma, which gets socked with diabetes, which finds its relatives dying too soon.Researchers have already measured some of these consequences. They have learned that 34 percent more black women die of breast cancer than white women, that Native American toddlers die at almost twice the rate of white children, that Chinese-Americans are more likely than any other ethnic group to develop liver cancer and die from it.Now, more than ever, as people immigrate and travel around the planet, scientists want to explain what's behind these numbers.

Ray Rhodes is trying to get into the Super Bowl and stay out of the hospital.The intense coach of the Philadelphia Eagles admitted this week that the job is taking a high toll on him in just his third season.He is dealing with high blood pressure and stress and is being checked by a doctor every other week."I don't like this, don't like it one bit," he said of the medication he has to take for high blood pressure. "Never had to do something like this before in my life."But Rhodes still seems to love the job of coaching a team in the town where they once booed Santa Claus.

While it's long been known that high blood pressure can cause heart failure, a new study reveals how the transformation happens -- a communications breakdown within cells weakens the heartbeat.The discovery, by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Biotechnology Center and published in today's edition of the journal Science, underscores the need for millions of Americans to have their blood pressure checked, and if necessary, treated.When blood pressure is high, the heart is straining to pump blood.

Patients taking certain calcium channel blockers for hypertension had a higher risk of "cardiovascular events," including stroke and angina, but those on the long-acting calcium channel blockers appeared to suffer no major side effects, according to a new study.Calcium channel blockers, also called calcium antagonists, are the most widely prescribed medicine for high blood pressure.But some studies have linked the drug's short-acting versions -- those that must be taken several times a day -- to increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.

Astros: During the past 20 days, Houston has raised its team batting average from .243 to .285.Cubs: Brian McRae was caught stealing for the first time this season after being successful in his first 12 attempts. . . . Ryne Sandberg jogged in the outfield and took grounders and is expected back in the lineup today.Dodgers: Eric Karros returned to the lineup after missing seven games due to a strained muscle in his left side. . . . Brett Butler, bothered by tonsillitis since before spring training, will be placed the disabled list tomorrow and have his tonsils removed.

In its 72 years of fighting the nation's leading killer disease, the American Heart Association has never had anyone but a doctor at the helm. This will change next year when Martha Hill, a nurse from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, becomes president of the national organization.Hill, a nurse practitioner who also holds a doctorate in behavioral science, was voted president-elect at a meeting last week in Atlanta. She will assume the one-year post in June 1997.Her election makes her the first nonphysician to hold the position since the Heart Association was formed in 1924 by six New York cardiologists.

The recent release of the "1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans" brought no big surprises, but it does offer some powerful information.Published in a 40-page booklet, the guidelines "are a road map, a handy tool, a quick check list" to seeing how you're doing nutritionally, according to Edith Hogan, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "These guidelines demonstrate that science is evolutionary, not revolutionary."Eat a variety of foods, choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits, and moderate in salt and sugar are messages we've grown accustomed to. "What is new," she says, "is that exercise is included as part of the dietary guidelines for the first time."

GROZNY, Russia -- The international aid agencies at work in Chechnya cut their teeth on African disasters but are learning that a war against civilians in a country like Russia presents a different set of problems.The foreigners -- the International Red Cross, the Paris-based Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), an English agency called Merlin -- are not in charge here. The Russians are.They are trying to set up relief operations in a country that has a highly structured -- if not always sophisticated -- medical system.

Q: My family doctor thinks that my high blood pressure is due to a pheochromocytoma and has arranged for me to see another doctor to have tests done. What is a pheochromocytoma, and what is involved in the tests?A: A pheochromocytoma is a tumor that can cause high blood pressure by releasing excessive amounts of two hormones, epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine. The production of these hormones, together called catecholamines, can be constant or intermittent, thereby resulting in either sustained or periodic hypertension.

Congestive heart failure refers to a large number of conditions that affect the structure or function of the heart, making it more difficult for the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs. Dr. Michael E. Silverman of Cardiovascular Specialists of Central Maryland and chief of medicine at Howard County General Hospital writes about the causes of and treatments for the problem. * Congestive heart failure occurs when one or more of the heart's chambers loses the ability to maintain proper blood flow.

Va'Sean Duvall is a skinny 17-year-old who stays busy with an after-school job, choir rehearsals and school drama productions. On the surface, he doesn't fit the mold of someone - older, obese and inactive - who would be at risk for high blood pressure. Yet he's among as many as 4 million children in the United States estimated to have hypertension, a figure that has grown fivefold in the past generation, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. It's a condition that doctors often fail to diagnose and one that leaves children - particularly African-Americans - at risk for serious heart problems, says a recent Hopkins study.

After decades of warnings about salt, the white, grainy mineral seems poised to become the grocery's next boogeyman, following trans fats, carbs and calories. Health and consumer advocates who see a rising epidemic of high blood pressure and related disease are making the latest push, and that has food makers inching toward change. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently quantified the problem with a report saying most Americans consume more than double the daily recommended level of sodium, a major component of salt.

Racial blood pressure disparity kills 8,000 ATLANTA: The lives of nearly 8,000 black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of whites, a new study indicates. The study, released yesterday in the Annals of Family Medicine, is being called the first to calculate the racial disparities in lives lost to blood pressure control. "We expected it to be big, but it was even larger than we anticipated," said lead author Dr. Kevin Fiscella of the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Baltimore has launched a citywide effort to educate the public on the dangers of high salt intake, which is associated with high blood pressure, particularly among African-Americans. In a city that is nearly 65 percent black, the risks of hypertension, which can lead to heart attack, kidney failure and stroke, are especially high. The city Health Department is bringing together researchers and public health advocates starting in September to try to untangle the reasons for high salt consumption and offer recommendations for how city officials and food suppliers can decrease it. The six-month-long effort was born out of a recent Health Department initiative to reduce health disparities caused by cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in Baltimore.

Lately, there has been a great deal of buzz about taking steps to keep our brains young and alert. Indeed, it may behoove us to pay attention: There are things most people can do to help keep their brains healthy, says Dr. Majid Fotuhi, director for the Center of Memory and Brain Health at the LifeBridge Health Brain & Spine Institute. Fotuhi also is the author of The Memory Cure: How to Protect Your Brain Against Memory Loss and Alzheimer's. Are there really things that we all can do to try to keep our brains young?

About one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, also called hypertension, according to the American Heart Association. But many are unaware they have the disease because it has no symptoms, says Dr. Brian H. Kahn, a cardiologist at the Heart Center at Overlea Personal Physicians. Who is at risk for high blood pressure? As you get older, high blood pressure is very common. It is part of the aging process. Also, people who eat a lot of salts are more prone to high blood pressure, as well as African-Americans, and we don't know why. There are rare conditions such as blockages in the kidney arteries that can cause it, but in 99 percent of cases, there is no known cause.

For years, experts have known that placebos - fake injections and pills with no real medication - can improve the health of patients with pain, asthma, high blood pressure and angina. Now they've learned that raising the price of a fake pill makes it work even better. A report this week in The Journal of the American Medical Association shows that expectations - shaped by factors that include the price of a medication - play a key role in how we respond to pain relievers and our response to therapies for depression, cancer, stroke or heart attack.

Is there anything in the way of vitamins or herbs that a person can take instead of a prescription drug for high blood pressure? I've heard about garlic, but I don't like it much. Is there anything else? The newest candidate for natural blood pressure control is beet juice. A study in the journal Hypertension (online Feb. 4, 2008) showed that 2 cups (500 milliliters) of beet juice lowered blood pressure by about 10 points. That is better than many prescription drugs. The effect lasts up to 24 hours.

Doctors fail to diagnose high blood pressure in more than three-quarters of children with the problem, putting them at risk for heart disease and other organ damage later in life, a new study suggests. Calculating elevated blood pressure in children is more complicated than in adults, and many doctors might not bother evaluating kids' pressure because they assume hypertension is an adult problem, the study found. "Hypertension is a disease that doesn't cause symptoms, particularly in children," said Dr. Richard Lange, chief of clinical cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who did not participate in the study.