New research in rats finds a diet high in the prebiotic fiber inulin offered a protective effect against the damage of a high-salt diet.
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
Childhood Stress + Immune Overactivity = High Blood Pressure in Adulthood?
About 35 million adults in the U.S. may develop high blood pressure because of negative events that happened to them during childhood. Researchers are exploring how an event you experience when you’re a kid can cause high blood pressure as an adult. About 35 million children in the U.S. experience early-life stress (ELS). ELS is … Continue reading Childhood Stress + Immune Overactivity = High Blood Pressure in Adulthood?
Beyond Mars and Venus: Three Ways Gender Can Affect your Blood Pressure
Much of what we know about human health and disease comes from studies in male animals. However, researchers are finding that for blood pressure control, what’s true for male animals is not necessarily true for females. One in three adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure (hypertension) and of those, only half have their … Continue reading Beyond Mars and Venus: Three Ways Gender Can Affect your Blood Pressure
Why the Y Difference in High Blood Pressure?
One in three adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure (hypertension). Although men and women are just as likely to develop hypertension during their lifetimes, men younger than 45 have hypertension more often than women that age do. Scientists wondered if this difference is because the male hormone testosterone affects physiological processes differently than … Continue reading Why the Y Difference in High Blood Pressure?