The global burden of hypertension exceeds 1.4 billion people: should a systolic blood pressure target below 130 become the universal standard?

: In 2010, 1.4 billion people globally had hypertension, with 14% controlled to systolic blood pressure (SBP, mmHg) below 140, which contributes to 18 million cardiovascular deaths annually. Recent hypertension guidelines endorsed SBP targets below 130 or lower for all or some hypertensive patients to reduce cardiovascular events (CVEs) more than the prior SBP target less than 140.

Heart rate and blood pressure interactions in the development of erectile dysfunction in high-risk cardiovascular patients.

Aims: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with cardiovascular risk factors as elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP), resting high heart rate (HR), and endothelial dysfunction and predicts cardiovascular events. However, the interaction between high HR and SBP and the development of ED remains unclear.

Methods And Results: We evaluated 1015 male patients enrolled in the ED substudy of ONTARGET and TRANSCEND, examining the influence of mean HR and mean SBP obtained over all study visits (mean 10.

Stroke mortality and trends from 1990 to 2006 in 39 countries from Europe and Central Asia: implications for control of high blood pressure.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to extend our understanding of international trends in stroke and major sequelae in Europe and countries peripheral to Europe by assessing: (1) current mortality rates, (2) the most recent 15-year prevalence trends, and (3) the relationship between systolic blood pressure in community surveys and national stroke mortality.

Methods And Results: Data were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO www.who.

Combined effects of routine blood pressure lowering and intensive glucose control on macrovascular and microvascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes: New results from the ADVANCE trial.

Objective: To assess the magnitude and independence of the effects of routine blood pressure lowering and intensive glucose control on clinical outcomes in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: This was a multicenter, factorial randomized trial of perindopril-indapamide versus placebo (double-blind comparison) and intensive glucose control with a gliclazide MR-based regimen (target A1C View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effect of rimonabant on blood pressure in overweight/obese patients with/without co-morbidities: analysis of pooled RIO study results.

Objective: Rimonabant, the first selective cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor blocker, has been shown to improve multiple cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight/obese patients. This analysis assessed the impact of rimonabant on blood pressure in the pooled population from four large trials with similar design - the Rimonabant-In-Obesity (RIO) programme.

Methods: RIO-Europe (n = 1507) and RIO-North America (n = 3040) recruited overweight/obese patients, and RIO-Lipids (n = 1033) and RIO-Diabetes (n = 1045) recruited overweight/obese patients with untreated dyslipidaemia or type 2 diabetes, respectively.

Effects of nifedipine GITS and diuretics in isolated systolic hypertension--a subanalysis of the INSIGHT study.

Aims: This study tested the effects on cardiovascular outcomes of treatments based on nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) compared with the diuretic combination co-amilozide in a pre-specified subset of patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) enrolled in the International Nifedipine GITS Study: Intervention as a Goal in Hypertension Treatment (INSIGHT) study.

Major Findings: Of 6321 randomized patients, 1498 (23.7%) had ISH with a baseline mean BP of 173/88 mmHg in both treatment groups.

Design of the Omapatrilat in Persons with Enhanced Risk of Atherosclerotic events (OPERA) trial.

The Omapatrilat in Persons with Enhanced Risk of Atherosclerotic events (OPERA) trial is a large clinical trial of omapatrilat, a vasopeptidase inhibitor, in patients with stage 1 isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). OPERA is the first study to examine whether effective antihypertensive treatment can provide survival and clinical end point benefits in older persons with this common condition. This 5-year multinational, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, forced-titration study will be conducted in approximately 12,600 subjects randomized by approximately 1100 study centers worldwide over a recruitment period of approximately 2 years.