AHA: Blood Pressure May Explain Higher Dementia Risk in Blacks

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 9, 2019 (American Heart Association) -- Older black adults with high blood pressure, and especially black men, show more severe cognitive declines than white adults who have high blood pressure, according to new research.

The University of Michigan-led study published Wednesday in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension, suggests blood pressure may help explain why black adults -- who are more likely to develop high blood pressure -- also are two times more likely to have dementia later in life. It also suggests that aggressively treating high blood pressure could reduce the risk of cognitive impairment in a wider population of older adults, particularly in black adults and men.

More Blood Pressure Meds Recalled Due to Carcinogen

FRIDAY, Dec. 7, 2018 -- Over the past few months, numerous recalls of the popular heart drug valsartan have already occurred. Now, generics maker Mylan Pharmaceuticals is adding more products to the list.

The recall involves 104 lots of three medicines: valsartan tablets; combination tablets with the drugs valsartan and amlodipine; and combination tablets with valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide.

Take High Blood Pressure Meds? Exercise Might Work Just as Well

TUESDAY, Dec. 18, 2018 -- If you have high blood pressure, hitting the gym may be as helpful as taking drugs to lower your numbers, researchers say.

There's "compelling evidence that combining endurance and dynamic resistance training was effective in reducing [blood pressure]," according to the authors of a new report.

AHA: Blood Pressure Guidelines, One Year Later: Monitoring the Change

TUESDAY, Nov. 27, 2018 (American Heart Association) -- Tim Landis was a healthy 66-year-old who hiked, biked and jogged, wasn't overweight and watched what he ate. But after he died suddenly of a heart attack in January, tests revealed years of untreated high blood pressure that caused cardiovascular disease.

At his annual physicals, Tim's systolic blood pressure (the top number) was usually in the 130s and his diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) in the 80s, said his wife Debra. A year ago, that wasn't considered high.

Smoking Bans Might Help Nonsmokers' Blood Pressure

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 21, 2018 -- Smoking bans in public places might protect more than the lungs of nonsmokers, with new research suggesting a beneficial effect on blood pressure.

"We found that nonsmoking adults in the study who lived in areas with smoke-free laws in restaurants, bars or workplaces had lower systolic [top number] blood pressure by the end of the follow-up period compared to those who lived in areas without smoke-free laws," said lead author Stephanie Mayne. She is a research scientist at the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Must Blood Pressure Rise With Age? Remote Tribes Hold Clues

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14, 2018 -- Contrary to common belief, blood pressure doesn't have to rise as you age, a study of two remote South American tribes suggests.

Looking at the isolated Yanomami tribe in the Venezuelan rainforest, researchers found their blood pressure remained low from youth to age 60.