Credit: iStock/Elena Istomina Did you know that the trillions of bacteria residing in your gut actively influence one of the most critical numbers in your life: your blood pressure? For a long time, scientists mainly looked at genetics, diet and lifestyle as the key reasons behind high blood pressure. While these factors are important, there’s … Continue reading Beyond the Bugs: Could Chemicals from Microbes Help Lower Blood Pressure?
High Blood Pressure
Bile Acids and Gut Microbiota Work Together to Regulate Blood Pressure
Credit: iStock/libre de droit Did you know that liver, our second largest organ, also plays a role in regulating our blood pressure? It has to do with bile acids, a substance that the liver cells make to help with digestion. Let’s dive in a little more to understand how it all works. Bile acids Bile … Continue reading Bile Acids and Gut Microbiota Work Together to Regulate Blood Pressure
From Tomatoes to Treadmills: What Scientists Are Discovering About Everyday Health
American Physiology Summit attendees view scientific posters. Credit: Erica Roth From record-breaking running speeds set by a 91-year-old to how your body responds to climate shifts, the American Physiology Summit brought together researchers exploring the science of health and life itself. Here’s how their findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Physiological Society could … Continue reading From Tomatoes to Treadmills: What Scientists Are Discovering About Everyday Health
What You Need to Know About the Gut Microbiota and High Blood Pressure
Credit: iStock The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of microbiota (microscopic organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi) in the intestine or gut. There are trillions of microbiota living in our guts. During disease or under unfavorable conditions, harmful bacteria in our digestive tract overgrow, and a balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria is lost. … Continue reading What You Need to Know About the Gut Microbiota and High Blood Pressure
What Snoozing Seals Can Teach Us about Cardiovascular Health
Credit: Kaitlin Allen. Photo taken under NMFS permit #19108 Sleep apnea, which is thought to affect up to 1 in 4 adults, occurs when we briefly stop breathing while asleep. The brain senses the decrease in blood oxygen levels that occurs during the interruption and wakes us up so we’ll take a breath. Some of … Continue reading What Snoozing Seals Can Teach Us about Cardiovascular Health
Curd Extra Cheese Be Gouda for You?
Credit: iStock Blood vessel function is important for staying healthy. Impaired blood vessel function can lead to an increase in blood pressure (hypertension). If left unchecked, hypertension can lead to heart disease and, ultimately, death. Pretty scary stuff. A small increase in the diameter or radius of a blood vessel (called dilation) can lower blood … Continue reading Curd Extra Cheese Be Gouda for You?
This Halloween, Celebrate the Creepy-crawlies that Keep Us Safe
Credit: iStock Each Halloween season, we celebrate all those spooky critters that give us the heebie-jeebies. But there might be more to cheer for than you realize. Scientists who study these creepy-crawlies are learning ways they may improve human health. Gila Monster In 1992, John Eng, MD, an endocrinologist working at the Veterans Affairs Medical … Continue reading This Halloween, Celebrate the Creepy-crawlies that Keep Us Safe
Spotlight On: Hypertension
You may hear the word “hypertension” a lot: in a medical clinic, on the news and in passing conversation. If you’ve ever wondered what it really means, read on. Simply put, hypertension means high blood pressure, a condition that people of all ages, races and ethnicities can develop. Blood pressure is the measurement of blood … Continue reading Spotlight On: Hypertension
Spotlight On: Preeclampsia
Lady Sybil Crawley—the feisty youngest sister of a wealthy British family on the PBS television series “Downton Abbey”—made her way into viewers’ hearts. Devotees of the show were shocked when, in a surprise twist, she died soon after giving birth. Lady Sybil died from high blood pressure during pregnancy (preeclampsia) that developed into a more … Continue reading Spotlight On: Preeclampsia
Hypertension: Silent and Unequal
High blood pressure has been coined the “silent killer” because it has no symptoms, which causes many people to go undiagnosed. A blood pressure reading that stays high for long periods of time is called hypertension. It’s one of the leading risk factors for heart disease. In addition to being silent, hypertension is also unequal—rates … Continue reading Hypertension: Silent and Unequal