Effects of low-dose aspirin on blood pressure and endothelial function of treated hypertensive hypercholesterolaemic subjects.

The main objective of this study was to assess whether aspirin 100 mg QD can improve blood pressure (BP) control and endothelial function in subjects with arterial hypertension (AH) and hypercholesterolaemia. In total, 21 patients of both sexes (52.1+/-11.

The Ashkelon Hypertension Detection and Control Program (AHDC Program): a community approach to reducing cardiovascular mortality.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) reduction is crucial in reducing cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in the community. Subjects aged 20-65 seldom visit the primary care clinics, so they are unlikely to be detected without an active outreach screening program. The aim of the project was to prepare a professional doctor-nurse screening team, who will instruct those found to be at high risk in control of their risk factors, in order to reduce CV morbidity and mortality.

Risk factor profile and achievement of treatment goals among hypertensive patients from the Israeli Blood Pressure Control (IBPC) program--initial cost utility analysis.

Aims: Blood pressure (BP) reduction is crucial in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The IBPC (Israeli Blood Pressure Control) program was initiated in order to enhance the control of modifiable risk factors among high-risk hypertensive patients under follow-up by general practitioners in Israel. The cost effectiveness of an intervention program is an important factor in the decision-making process of its implementation and therefore was evaluated here.

Impaired nitric oxide production, brachial artery reactivity and fish oil in offspring of ischaemic heart disease patients.

The offspring of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients are at particularly high risk for developing CHD. Endothelial dysfunction is present in the majority of CHD and atherosclerosis patients. Fish oil, rich in n-3 fatty acids has been shown to augment endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in human peripheral and coronary arteries.

The different patterns of blood pressure elevation by rofecoxib and nabumetone.

Hypertension and knee osteoarthritis (OA) are frequent comorbidities. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often used to relieve pain in such patients. In the last decade selective NSAIDs are used more commonly since they lead to less gastrointestinal complications.

Efficacy of candesartan cilexetil alone or in combination with amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide in moderate-to-severe hypertension. UK and Israel Candesartan Investigators.

This multicenter study evaluated the efficacy of candesartan cilexetil, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, used alone or in combination with amlodipine or in combination with amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide in the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe essential hypertension. After a 2-week, single-blind, placebo run-in period, patients entered a 12-week, open-label, dose-titration period. The candesartan cilexetil dose was increased from 8 to 16 mg once daily; amlodipine (5 mg once daily), hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg once daily), and additional medication were also added sequentially if necessary.

[Multicenter community-based trial of amlodipine in hypertension in Israel].

The safety and efficacy of Amlodipine (AML) for mild to moderate hypertension was evaluated in a "real life" setting. This open non-comparative trial included 123 men and 143 women (age 30-91 years, mean 59.4).

Prior antihypertensive treatment and admission blood pressure correlated with clinical outcome and early morning presentation in hypertensive ischaemic stroke patients.

Blood pressure (BP) reduction of 5-6 mm Hg reduces the relative risk of stroke by 30-40%. This effect does not appear to depend on the antihypertensive agent used to bring about the required reduction in BP. Patients with acute ischaemic stroke often exhibit an elevated BP.

The effect of fish oil on hypertension, plasma lipids and hemostasis in hypertensive, obese, dyslipidemic patients with and without diabetes mellitus.

We have recently reported that dietary fish oil supplementation (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) led to a reduction in blood pressure (BP) and serum triglycerides (TG), in addition to the normalization of the hypercoagulable state in subjects with obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia without diabetes mellitus (OHD-DM). The aim of the present study was to explore the mechanism of this amelioration by comparing the previous results to those obtained from 19 subjects who, in addition to the conditions described above, also suffer from diabetes mellitus (OHD+DM) and proteinuria. In both the non-diabetic and diabetic groups, a similar reduction was observed in BP (from 158.

Repeated fasting and refeeding with 20:5, n-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA): a novel approach for rapid fatty acid exchange and its effect on blood pressure, plasma lipids and hemostasis.

Twenty hypertensive subjects participated in three clinical trials of 13 days each, to examine the effects of Alsepa fish oil [20:5, n-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) 180 mg, and 22:6 n-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) 120 mg] on n-3 for n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) exchange on serum phospholipids, blood pressure (BP), triglycerides (TG) and primary hemostasis. After 13 days, plasma phospholipids showed an increase in sigma n-3 (EPA and DHA) from 2.0 to 5.

Antihypertensive efficacy of a once a day verapamil SR/trandolapril combination.

Twenty-one patients with a sitting diastolic blood pressure between 100 and 114 mmHg after a single-blind 2-week placebo run-in period, started treatment under open conditions with the fixed combination of verapamil SR/trandolapril 180/1 mg o.d. for a period of 8 weeks.

Reproducibility of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor induced cough: a double-blind randomised study.

1. The reproducibility of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor induced cough was examined in a double-blind cross over study in patients previously shown to have exhibited this side effect. 2.

Hypertension in pregnancy: hemodynamics and diurnal arterial pressure profile.

Objective: To characterize the 24-h arterial pressure (AP) profile and the left ventricular (LV) structures and functions in women with pregnancy-associated hypertension.

Methods: Twenty nulliparous pregnant women after 20 weeks' gestation, 10 normotensive and 10 hypertensive women matched for gestational age, were hemodynamically investigated using 24-h AP monitoring and Doppler echocardiography to determine LV structures and functions, both systolic and diastolic.

Results: The hypertensive women had significantly higher AP determinations throughout the 24 h, with no change in diurnal variation, i.

Partial cost-benefit analysis of two different modes of nonpharmacological control of hypertension in the community.

In the Dan and Ashkelon areas of Israel, 28 male and 24 female mild to moderate hypertensives without target organ damage aged 35-65 years were randomly assigned to treatment programmes (based on nutritional management, exercise and stress management techniques) either on an individual basis administered by physician-nurse teams (PN) or on a group basis from a team of paramedical professionals (PP) consisting of a psychologist, nutritionist and physical activity instructor. At 11 and 24 months follow-up, there were similar significant improvements in both treatment modes for such risk factors as body mass index, caloric intake and physical activity levels. There was a significant decrease in drug use from $36.

Comprehensive individualised nonpharmacological treatment programme for hypertension in physician-nurse clinics: two year follow-up.

A comprehensive programme of nonpharmacological control of hypertension (balanced nutrition, satisfactory weight, enhanced physical activity, relaxation technique, smoking cessation) by primary care physician-nurse (PN) teams who were instructed and routinely advised by a paramedical professional (PP) team (psychologist, nutritionist and physical activity instructor) was developed with the aim of increasing long-term compliance. To evaluate effectiveness, 52 mild and moderate hypertensives without target organ damage were randomly allocated to six weekly meetings of individual intensive instruction by PN teams alone, or direct group instructions by PP teams (24 and 28 patients, respectively). The respective results at 11 months and 24 months follow-up compared with baseline were: (1) 56.

Does isradipine exert a special early-morning blood pressure-lowering effect?

The blood pressure-lowering effect of isradipine at 1.25-2.5 mg twice daily (taken at 0700 and 1900 h) was assessed in a double-blind study involving 28 men with mild-to-moderate hypertension.

Twenty-four hour arterial pressure and heart rate as predictors of left-ventricular hypertrophy.

Hypertrophy of the left ventricle occurs in some but not all hypertensive patients. The present study was designed to examine the office and the 24-hour arterial pressure (AP) and heart rate (HR) recordings, and the AP response to physical stress in two age- and sex-matched hypertensive groups who differed in their left-ventricular mass (LVM). In addition, we tried to determine whether AP and HR measured at rest, under stress, or with 24-hour AP monitoring correlate with LVM.

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: five case reports.

Since the 1950s, tuberculosis (TB) morbidity has been decreasing steadily in Israel. However, recent waves of Ethiopian immigrants have brought new cases and have renewed our awareness of the disease. As in other immigrant populations, the incidence of extrapulmonary TB is relatively high, challenging the clinician to make the correct diagnosis at an early stage.

Urinary albumin excretion in patients with familial Mediterranean fever: a pilot study.

Amyloidosis of the kidney is the most threatening complication in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), and colchicine has been shown to reduce its occurrence. In the preclinical stage of kidney amyloidosis, no proteinuria is observed by the standard Albustix method. However, whether these patients have normal or increased urinary albumin excretion is not known.

Twenty-four-hour blood pressure control with isradipine in mild essential hypertension.

The hypotensive effect of isradipine was assessed in 26 male patients, aged 40 to 64 years, with hypertension. After withdrawal of previous antihypertensive treatment and a four-week placebo period, patients were randomized into a double-blind active-treatment period of eight weeks to receive either placebo or 1.25 to 2.

The antihypertensive action of isradipine in mild essential hypertension.

The antihypertensive effect of isradipine compared with placebo was assessed in 28 male patients (aged 40-64 years) with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension. After withdrawal of all previous antihypertensive treatment, these patients were entered into a 4-week placebo period followed by randomization to receive double-blind, for 8 weeks, either placebo (n = 14) or isradipine at 1.25-2.

The effect of cilazapril, a new angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, on peak and trough blood pressure measurements in hypertensive patients.

Cilazapril (CLZ) is a new, long-acting nonsulfhydril converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I). Its effect on peak and trough sitting diastolic blood pressure (SDBP) was studied in a total of 85 patients with uncomplicated, essential hypertension at three centers. After 4 weeks of a single-blind placebo (PLA) run-in period, patients whose SDBP was between 100 and 115 mm Hg, were randomized into active treatment with either PLA (n = 27), CLZ 2.

[The "Ashkelon" hypertension detection and follow-up program].

The program described aims at enhancing awareness of high blood pressure and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and promoting a healthy lifestyle. The study population consisted of 11,000 workers at worksites and visitors to community centers, aged 25-65 years. The program was carried out in cooperation with primary care clinics and non-pharmacological control of high blood pressure was by a community center for prevention of CVD.