Publications by authors named "B Falkner"
Blood pressure (BP) levels are important modifiable risk factors for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, many adults are on anti-hypertensive medication (MEDS) which lowers their BP but is a marker for increased CVD risk. To capture the association of BP and its treatment with risk, it is important to estimate BP levels in the absence of medication, i.
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- The study investigated the link between elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) and neurocognitive performance in adolescents, focusing on measures like auscultatory SBP and ambulatory SBP, along with cardiovascular health risk indicators.
- It involved 365 adolescents, averaging 15.5 years old, from various academic medical centers in the U.S., analyzing their cognitive abilities like nonverbal IQ and attention, considering factors like maternal education.
- Results showed that higher SBP corresponded to lower nonverbal IQ and verbal attention scores, indicating that even slight elevations in blood pressure can negatively affect adolescent cognitive functions, suggesting a need for further research on these implications for clinical care.
Hypertension has largely been viewed as a disorder of adulthood. Historically, blood pressure (BP) was not routinely measured in children because hypertension was considered uncommon in childhood. It was not until the 1970s that it was apparent that in childhood BP levels were normally lower compared with those in adults, were related to age and growth, and that abnormal BP in children needed different definitions.
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- Primary hypertension in children can lead to increased cardiovascular risks as they grow into adults, making early studies crucial for understanding organ damage.
- A study involving 132 youths showed significant correlations between blood pressure levels, gene expression, and molecular profiles, highlighting distinct biological changes in those with high blood pressure.
- Findings suggest that mechanisms behind elevated blood pressure could involve issues with blood vessel growth and tissue breakdown, offering potential targets for intervention in preventing long-term cardiovascular damage.
Background: Hypertension in adolescence is associated with subclinical target organ injury (TOI). We aimed to determine whether different blood pressure (BP) thresholds were associated with increasing number of TOI markers in healthy adolescents.
Methods: 244 participants (mean age 15.