New research indicates that those with high blood pressure have difficulty interpreting emotions on people’s faces and text messages, called “emotional dampening”. The research focused on African-Americans and it is hypothesized that the emotional dampening may be a result of the way high blood pressure effects the nervous system.

For more information see:
“High Blood Pressure May Lead To Missed Emotional Cues: Study” Huffingtom Post. Published 11/8/11. Retrieved 11/11/11 from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/high-blood-pressure-leads-to-missed-emotional-cues_n_1080746.html.

Researchers discovered that women with high blood pressure, whether they were receiving treatment or not, are more likely to have babies with congenital heart, brain or spinal cord defects. The study used data from over 460,000 women and their babies from 1995 to 2008.

ACE inhibitors used in the second and third trimester of pregnancy carry the FDA’s most serious warning for birth defects, but this study could indicate that women on ACE inhibitors in early pregnancy with unplanned pregnancies don’t need to be as concerned as previously believed. For those planning pregnancy, it reenforces the importance of controlling high blood pressure before trying to get pregnant.

For more information see:
“High Blood Pressure in Early Pregnancy Raises Birth Defect Risk” Associated Press. Published October 19, 2011. Retrieved online a10/20/2011 from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/19/high-blood-pressure-in-early-pregnancy-raises-birth-defect-risk/#ixzz1bL3SxrYK.

The research focused on the health records of over 65,000 middle-aged women from the Nurses’ Health Study II. They found that when compared to women without restless legs symptoms, women with restless legs were 1.20 times more likely to also suffer from hypertension. Researchers also discovered that the more often one suffered from restless legs symptoms, the more likely they were to have high blood pressure.

For more information see:

Gao X, et al “Restless legs syndrome and hypertension in middle-aged women” Hypertension 2011; 58: 791-796. Retrieved October 18, 2011 from http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2011/10/09/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.174037.abstract.

The study used records from over 500,000 adults who participated in blood pressure and stroke related studies. Researchers discovered that those who were pre-hypertensive had a 55% increased risk of stroke. Those with blood pressure in 130-139 range systolic were 79% more likely to suffer from a stroke than those with normal blood pressure.

If further research confirms these findings it could have a significant impact on blood pressure treatment recommendations.

For more information see:
“Slightly raised blood pressure, pre-hypertension linked to stroke risk”
By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY. Updated 09/28/2011. Retrieved online 10/13/2011 from http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-09-28/Slightly-high-blood-pressure-pre-hypertension-linked-to-stroke-risk/50590960/1.

A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that an increase of 100 foreclosures was correlated to a 7.2% increase in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for hypertension, 8.1% increase for diabetes, 12% more anxiety related visits and 39% more suicide attempts for those ages 20-49.

For more information see:
“Tying Health Problems to Rise in Home Foreclosures” By S. Mitra Kalita. Wall Street Journal: Real Estate. Published online

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576538293771870006.html

For ten years the Swedish participants aged 45-79 years completed a questionnaire asking questions about their diet and lifestyle. It was discovered that there was a statistically significant correlation between stroke and processed meats, such that those who ate the highest amount of processed meat had a greater change of stroke (relative risk 1.23) when compared to those who ate the least. Those who ate the most fresh red meat also had a slightly higher risk of stroke (relative risk 1.07) but the relationship failed to reach statistical significance.

Further research is needed before declaring a direct cause and effect relationship.

For more information see:

“Red meat consumption and risk of stroke in Swedish men”. Susanna C Larsson, Jarmo Virtamo, and Alicja Wolk. Am J Clin Nutr 2011 94: 2 417-421; First published online June 8, 2011. Retrieved online 8/19/2011 from http://www.ajcn.org/content/94/2/417.abstract.

“Processed Meats Linked to Increased Stroke Risk” by Barbara Boughton. Medscape News Today > Medscape Medical News > Neurology 8/19/2011. Retrieved online 8/19/2011 from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/748324.

The findings were the result of an analysis of the data gathered during the INternational VErapamil Trandolapril STudy (INVEST). Participants who reported NSAID use at every study visit were considered chronic users (approximately 8 visits over roughly 2.7 years). They analysis revealed that for the 882 chronic users the risk of death, myocardial infarction or stroke was 4.4 per 100 patient years vs the 21,694 non-chronic users who had a risk of 3.7.

For more information see:
“Harmful Effects of NSAIDs among Patients with Hypertension and Coronary Artery Disease”. Anthony A. Bavry, Asma Khaliq, Yan Gong, Eileen M. Handberg, Rhonda M. Cooper-DeHoff, Carl J. Pepine. The American Journal of Medicine – July 2011 (Vol. 124, Issue 7, Pages 614-620, DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.02.025). Retrieved online 8/18/2011 from http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2811%2900264-6/abstract.

Over 34,000 Swedish women who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. After 10.4 years, three or more servings a week of lean fish was inversely associated with risk of stroke.  More research is needed before any conclusions can be made, but eating fish regularly is generally recognized as part of a healthy diet.

For more information see:

“Fish consumption and risk of stroke in Swedish women.” Larsson SC, Virtamo J, Wolk A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Mar;93(3):487-93. Epub 2010 Dec 29. Was viewed online at 8/13/2011 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21191140?dopt=Abstract.

More than four hundred veterans, mostly male, with a history of uncontrolled blood pressure participated in the 18 month study. Blood pressure readings were collected regularly in clinical settings, research settings and at home. Researchers found that 28% would have been classified as having their blood pressure in control by clinic measurement, 47% by home measurement, and 68% by research measurement.

The study suggests that physicians who want to have 80% or more certainty when diagnosing hypertension need to use  the average of multiple measurements. Researchers reported that 5 to 6 measurements seem to provide the most benefit.

To read the full study visit http://www.annals.org/content/154/12/781.full.pdf+html. It was titled “Measuring Blood Pressure for Decision Making and Quality Reporting: Where and How Many Measures?” by Benjamin J. Powers, MD, MHS; Maren K. Olsen, PhD; Valerie A. Smith, MS; Robert F. Woolson, PhD; Hayden B. Bosworth, PhD; and Eugene Z. Oddone, MD, MHSc. It was published in the June 20, 2011 edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.

A health survey from 2008 indicated that 17% of soldiers reported high blood pressure since joining the service, 1.7% said they never had their blood pressure checked, and nearly 13% said they either did not know or remember what their blood pressure was.

The lifestyle of a soldier can be full of stress, and there is a strong correlation between high blood pressure and stress. While this stress may be unavoidable for the men and women in service, there are things they can do that have been shown to help keep hearts healthy, such as following the DASH diet, exercising regularly and getting adequate sleep.

For more information visit:

“Hypertension: More Soldiers die from silent killer than from combat” by Patricia Deal, June 6, 2011. U.S. Army website. Retrieved online June 22 from http://www.army.mil/article/59005/Hypertension__More_Soldiers_die_from_silent_killer_than_from_combat/