Tag Archives: bp

Snoring Linked to High Blood Pressure, Australian Study Finds

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A new Australian study has revealed that regular snoring may lead to higher blood pressure. Researchers from Flinders University in South Australia found that people who snore often are more likely to suffer from elevated blood pressure and uncontrolled hypertension.

The study monitored 12,287 participants over six months, using home-based sleep tracking technology. It showed that 15% of the participants snored for more than 20% of the night. Those who snored heavily had a 3.8 mmHg higher systolic blood pressure and 4.5 mmHg higher diastolic pressure compared to non-snorers.

Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, occurs when blood vessels have consistently high pressure. This condition can cause heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and other serious heart diseases.

“For the first time, we can say there’s a strong link between frequent snoring at night and high blood pressure,” said Bastien Lechat, lead author of the research from the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University in Australia. He stressed the importance of addressing snoring in managing hypertension.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.28 billion adults globally have hypertension, with nearly half of them unaware of their condition.

Heart patients advised to move more to avoid strokes

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Elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes increase the risk of heart disease. But a large study today reveals that in people with these conditions, increasing activity levels is associated with a reduced likelihood of heart events and mortality. The research is presented at ESC Preventive Cardiology 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1

Study author Dr. Esmée Bakker of Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands said: “Previous research showed that improvements in physical activity are beneficial to health. However, those studies were performed in the general population. In our study, we were interested to see if there were similar effects in individuals with cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.”

The study included 88,320 individuals from the LifeLines Cohort Study. Participants underwent a physical examination and completed questionnaires about their medical history and lifestyle including exercise. The questionnaires were repeated after approximately four years.

Study participants were divided into five groups according to activity levels at baseline and four years: large reduction, moderate reduction, no change, moderate improvement, and large improvement.2 Participants were followed-up for a median of seven years after the first assessment for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease or death.

Hyper tension

A total of 18,502 (21%) individuals had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and/or diabetes at the start of the study. The average age of this group was 55 years. After adjusting for age, sex, and baseline physical activity, the researchers found that those with a moderate to large improvement in physical activity were around 30% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or die during follow-up compared to those who did not change their activity level.

The remaining 69,808 (79%) participants did not have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes at the start of the study. The average age of this group was 43 years. After adjusting for age, sex, and baseline physical activity, the researchers found that those with large reductions in physical activity had a 40% higher risk of cardiovascular disease or death compared to those who did not change their activity level.

Dr. Bakker said: “Our study suggests that to prevent heart attacks and strokes and boost longevity, healthy individuals should maintain their physical activity levels, while those with risk factors need to become more active. The associations we found were even more pronounced in people who were relatively sedentary at the start of the study, indicating that inactive people have the most to gain.”

To prevent heart disease, European guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity or an equivalent combination.3

Dr. Bakker said: “If you are currently sedentary, walking is a good activity to start with. If you are already hitting the recommended amount, try doing 10 minutes more each day or increasing the intensity.”

New Blood Pressure Monitoring Device Developed to Make it More Accurate

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Amid recent reports of blood pressure devices not being accurate, a team of doctors from Jerusalem have come up with a new oscillometry device to measure it accurately.

The device, developed by a group of researchers from the Jerusalem College of Technology and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Israel, uses photoplethysmography technique, a pressure cuff wrapped around the arm and an electro-optic probe on the finger.

The finger probe acts as pulse oximeter that emits light into the finger and the detector measures the light transmitted through the finger. “The transmitted light exhibits pulses at the heart rate, due to cardiac-induced blood volume changes in the finger tissue,” explained lead author Meir Nitzen.

When the cuff pressure increases beyond the systolic blood pressure these pulses disappear and vice versa, enabling the correct determination of systolic blood pressure. Since the device does not eliminate the “white coat syndrome”, wherein a patient’s fear or anxiety during the test increases the measurement, they propose to avoid the effect advising the device to be used at home and in a relaxed atmosphere.

Since the old oscillometry-based automatic meters offer a low level of accuracy than the manual auscultatory technique, they advise the use of an electro-optic probe on the finger as well. The error inaccuracy levels of 10 to 15 mmHg seen in available in automatic oscillometric technique is attributed to air-pressure wave measurements in these devices.

A systolic blood pressure (BP) that measures 140 mmHg or higher and a diastolic measurement of 90 mmHG or higher (140/90 mmHg) is considered high.

The research findings have been presented at the “Cardiovascular Aging: New Frontiers and Old Friends conference” in Westminster, Colo.

However, past studies have shown that blood pressure monitoring may help patients with hypertension and stroke but did not improve blood pressure control for patients who had normal blood pressure at the start.

A study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) said, “Home monitoring depended on patients taking their blood pressure, recognizing if readings were consistently over target, understanding the need for intensification of treatment, visiting their physician for review and appropriate management by their physician.”

Sally Kerry, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary, University of London, UK, said good blood pressure control can significantly reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in the estimated 15 million people who have strokes each year worldwide.

“Home monitoring depended on patients taking their blood pressure, recognizing if readings were consistently over target, understanding the need for intensification of treatment, visiting their physician for review and appropriate management by their physician,” wrote the authors.

The study involved 381 participants aged 30 (mean 72) years from three stroke units in London, using home monitoring from March 2007 to August 2009. A total of 23% of participants were from ethnic minorities, and 45% had some disability due to stroke, including many frail, elderly patients.