|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Women Face Unique Challenges from High Blood
Pressure Says Themed Issue of Hypertension
Failure of men and women with high blood pressure
to follow diet guidelines highlighted by Archives of Internal Medicine
 Feb. 11, 2008 - Women face unique risks for
developing hypertension and special challenges in keeping it under control, which is the feature of a special themed
edition of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. It
features more than 45 studies and editorials related to women and
hypertension as part of the recognition of the fifth anniversary of the
American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement,
which raises awareness of heart disease risks for women. But, also
today, the Archives of Internal Medicine is reporting that few men or
women with hypertension eat diets that align with government guidelines
for controlling the disease.
“Our goals were to help convey the importance of
prevention and treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in
women, to emphasize that hypertension is a critical cardiovascular risk
factor in women, and to publish the newest and best research related to
hypertension in women,” said John E. Hall, Ph.D., Hypertension
Editor-in-Chief, and Arthur C. Guyton Professor and Chair and Associate
Vice Chancellor of Research at the University of Mississippi Medical
Center in Jackson, Miss.
Data from the American Heart Association Heart
Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2008 Update shows that high blood
pressure kills significantly more women than men and is two to three
times more common in women who take oral contraceptives than in women
who don’t.
In his preface to the journal, Hall cited previous
studies that show only about 60 percent of hypertensive women are
treated, and among those treated, only about a third had their blood
pressure controlled at optimum levels. “Thus, inadequate control of
high blood pressure continues to be the most important, and potentially
treatable, cause of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women,” he
said.
“Through Go Red For Women the American Heart
Association provides education and resources to help women live
heart-healthy lives. More importantly, our movement puts a face on
heart disease – the No. 1 killer of women,” said Nieca Goldberg, M.D.,
Go Red For Women spokesperson, author and medical director of the New
York University Women’s Heart Program.
“Our cause is based on science,
such as the studies and perspectives we have gathered in this issue of
Hypertension and the ongoing scientific research supported by the
American Heart Association.
This research is the foundation for the
medical care doctors deliver in their offices. What we learn from this
important body of science could one day save the life of someone’s
mother, wife, sister or daughter.”
| |
Most With High
Blood Pressure Do Not Follow Recommended Diet
A relatively small proportion of
individuals with hypertension (high blood pressure) eat diets
that align with government guidelines for controlling the
disease, according to a report in the February 11, 2007, issue of
Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals. In fact, since the introduction of a diet shown to
help reduce blood pressure, the dietary quality of those with
hypertension has decreased.
Results of the Dietary Approaches to Stop
Hypertension (DASH) trial, published in 1997, indicated that a
diet high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products could
significantly lower blood pressure, according to background
information in the article.
Subsequent studies found that this eating
pattern complements other lifestyle changes, such as reducing
sodium and losing weight, and can help lower cholesterol levels
and prevent components of the metabolic syndrome.
The DASH diet is recommended by
the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection and
Treatment of High Blood Pressure for all patients with
hypertension.
Philip B. Mellen, M.D., M.S., of the
Hattiesburg Clinic, Hattiesburg, Miss., and colleagues analyzed
data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),
conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2004.
Men and women age 20 years and older were
interviewed to obtain demographic and socioeconomic information
and diet history; their blood pressure was measured, and they
were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with hypertension.
Using the DASH guidelines, the
researchers identified goals for eight target nutrients: total
fat, saturated fat, protein, fiber, cholesterol, calcium,
magnesium and potassium. DASH scores ranging from zero to nine
were calculated for individuals with and without hypertension
from the surveys; those who scored a 4.5 or higher were
considered to be following the diet.
Among individuals surveyed in 1999 to
2004, 4,386 (28 percent) had been diagnosed with hypertension.
These individuals had an average DASH score of 2.92 (compared
with 3.12 among those without high blood pressure), and only
19.4 percent followed the diet. Compared with those surveyed in
1988 to 1994, 7.3 percent fewer individuals with hypertension
followed the DASH diet, reflecting fewer patients who consumed
target levels of total fat, fiber and magnesium.
DASH scores were lowest among young
people, African-Americans and those with a body mass index of 30
or higher.
The findings suggest “that the diet of
Americans with hypertension has not been greatly influenced by
the results and recommendations emerging from the DASH trial and
instead reflects secular trends in the dietary patterns of the
overall population,” the authors write.
“Moreover, the DASH score was lower in
subgroups likely to receive the greatest benefit from the DASH
diet—African Americans and obese individuals. As data continue
to accrue on the optimal diet to reduce risk in patients with
hypertension, it is imperative that national guideline
recommendations be complimented by research and policy
initiatives that seek to effectively implement this knowledge.”
|
|
Here are highlights from the themed issue:
● Dietary calcium, not supplements, may have a
role in preventing hypertension
In a study of 28,888 non-hypertensive American
women, age 45 or older, researchers found that the risk of hypertension:
● decreased with a higher intake of low-fat
dietary calcium and dietary vitamin D,
● did not change with calcium or vitamin D
supplements, and
● increased with high-fat dairy product intake.
Researchers tracked the intake of dairy products,
calcium and vitamin D based on a 131-item food frequency questionnaire
and conducted annual follow-up over a 10-year period. Nine possible
responses ranging from “never or less than once per month” to “6+ per
day” were recorded. During that time, 8,710 cases of hypertension were
identified.
>> Hypertension poses numerous risks for
pregnancy
In a brief review accompanying several
pregnancy-related studies in this issue, researchers note that
hypertension is the most common medical disorder of pregnancy,
complicating one in 10 pregnancies.
Researchers in the United Kingdom found that, while
cigarette smoking in preeclamptic pregnancies further increases already
present risks, stopping smoking can decrease the risks.
Women who had previously smoked and
stopped prior to or during their pregnancy also significantly decreased
their risks.
Of current smokers:
● 34.8 percent delivered before 34 weeks
(compared to 26.8 percent of former smokers and 21.3 percent of
non-smokers),
● 46.1 percent had low birthweight babies
(compared to 37.5 percent of former smokers and 27.9 percent of
non-smokers) and
● 65.6 percent had babies who experienced
adverse outcomes (compared to 60 percent of former smokers and 50.4
percent of non-smokers).
>> Gender plays a role in risk factors, treatment
and control of hypertension
Two separate studies in the United States found
persistent gender disparities in blood pressure control and
cardiovascular disease management.
From the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition
Examination Study, researchers analyzed data on 3,475 people, age 18 or
older, diagnosed with hypertension.
While blood pressure control in
women and men was comparable (55.9 percent uncontrolled in women and
50.8 percent in men), the prevalence of central obesity, elevated total
cholesterol level and low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were
found to be significantly higher in women than in men.
Those age adjusted risk factors included:
● central obesity (79 percent women vs. 63.9
percent men),
● elevated total cholesterol level (61.3 percent
women vs. 48 percent men) and
● low high-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”)
cholesterol (39.7 women vs. 35.6 men.)
Using data from the 2005 National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care
Survey, researchers analyzed data from 12,064 patient visits (7,786
female, 4,275 male). They found that among patients with hypertension,
women were less likely than men to:
● meet blood pressure control targets (54
percent vs. 58.7 percent),
● receive aspirin (20.7 percent vs. 35.5
percent),
● receive beta blockers (31.9 percent vs. 44.5
percent) or
● receive statins (28.5 percent vs. 35.3
percent) for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Less than half (20.7 percent of women, 46.6 percent
of men) of all patients received recommended therapy across all
conditions considered.
“This issue of Hypertension features the latest
research from basic, clinical and population scientists,” Hall said.
“We hope it is helpful to clinicians and researchers, and that it helps
to increase awareness of healthcare professionals and the public to the
greatest threat to the health of women – hypertension and cardiovascular
disease.”
To view this issue of Hypertension, go to
http://hyper.ahajournals.org. To learn more about Go Red for Women,
visit
www.GoRedForWomen.org.
More Links to Stories in our Archives
Blood Pressure
Increase in Older Men from Heavy Drinking Counters Good Cholesterol
Risk of stroke - more sensitive to blood pressure than
heart attack - is not substantially lower in moderate drinkers
Aug. 28, 2007
Hispanic Women Respond Better to High Blood Pressure
Drugs than Non-Hispanic Whites
Half as likely, too, as white women to suffer adverse
outcomes
July 13, 2007
High Blood Pressure May be Controlled Best by Pill
with Combined Medicines
May increase hypertension control rates from
36% to over 80%
May 21, 2007
Combo Drug Caduet Better for High Blood Pressure than Lipitor and
Norvasc
One-pill program also much less expensive say researchers
at American Heart Association Forum -
Read more... plus more
about high blood pressure...
May 11, 2007
Diabetes, High Blood Pressure Trump Race in Causing
Heart Failure Among Older Americans
African-Americans have more heart failure because
they have more diabetes, hypertension
March 27, 2007
Men with High Blood Pressure Drinking Moderate
Amounts of Alcohol May Lower Risk of Heart Attack
Also found rates of
stroke and death from heart disease did not differ from non-drinkers
January 2, 2007
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
