blood pressure

An article published online in The Lancet today and featured in the Huffington Post shows evidence that a process called denervation of nerves near the kidneys can radically lower blood pressure for people with very high, uncontrolled blood pressure. In a procedure like the ones used to detect coronary blockages, insert stents, and stop atrial fibrillation, researchers inserted a catheter into the artery near the groin and used radio waves to deaden some of the nerves in the kidney region. The stimulation of these nerves plays a key role in the development of high blood pressure.

The researchers randomly assigned 106 patients to an intervention group or a control group. All patients had systolic blood pressure of 160 mm Hg or higher or, if they had diabetes, 150 mm Hg. They were all taking multiple medication for their high blood pressure but not achieving any success in lower it. After six months, 84% of those in the intervention group had reduced their systolic blood pressure by at least 10 mm Hg compared with only 35% of the patients in the control group.

The researchers therefore conclude that denervation works to lower medication-resistant high blood pressure.

An article in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology links pop consumption - specifically throught fructose - with elevated blood pressure. The researchers from the University of Colorado used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to look at 4500 adults with no history of hypertension. They adjusted for a range of factors and found that consumption of at least 74 grams per day of fructose - equal to about 2 1/2 bottles/cans of pop - significantly increases the likelihood of high blood pressure.

Another article in WebMD notes that the research is under fire from the Corn Refiners Association, whose members I assume make a lot of fructose, as well as the American Beverage Association. The Corn Refiners argue that the researchers miscalculated the amount of fructose in a pop because it doesn't take account of other sugars used in soft drinks. However, as reported here last Spring, a clinical study by another group of researchers compared glucose consumption with fructose consumption. This group found that fructose promoted an increase of bad fat - visceral adipose tissue - higher lipids, and decreased insulin senstivity when compared to glucose.

The president of the American Society of Hypertension also commented in the WebMD piece - saying that all sugar is bad and that fructose shouldn't be singled out but not really criticizing the science of the research.

It turns out that playing soccer is better for you than just about anything else if you want to lower your blood pressure and lose weight. A new study by European researchers found that when previously inactive people play soccer twice a week for three months, their blood pressure, pulse rate, and proportion of body fat all improve. Other, related studies found that vascular elasticity and heart function also improved through regular soccer playing. A group of articles based on these studies will be published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports in late February.

A number of articles will be published in the