In addition to lifestyle changes, medication can also be used to reduce systolic hypertension to safe levels, although medications frequently have side effects, often serious.
12.
He cited a 1991 study, the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program, in which a diuretic that cost pennies a day signficantly reduced deaths from heart failure.
13.
Dr . Sutton-Tyrrell suggested that similar effects probably also occur in arteries inside the brain, accounting for the reduced risk of stroke among people treated for systolic hypertension.
14.
The high pulse pressure in elderly people with hypertension or isolated systolic hypertension is explained by increased arterial stiffness, which typically accompanies aging and may be exacerbated by high blood pressure.
15.
The study will test a Bristol-Myers Squibb Co . drug, called omapatrilat, on patients who have an early stage of what's called isolated systolic hypertension because only their systolic blood pressure is above normal.
16.
If systolic blood pressure is elevated ( > 140 mmHg ) with a normal diastolic blood pressure ( < 90 mmHg ), it is called " isolated systolic hypertension " and may present a health concern.
17.
"There is no proof that treating the mildest forms of this isolated systolic hypertension benefits the patient, " but this study could prove just that, said Kostis, who spent a decade trying to organize and get funding for it.
18.
In one recent study, patients properly treated for isolated systolic hypertension cut their risk of heart failure by more than 50 percent and the risk of stroke and heart attacks by a third . " That's a pretty dramatic lowering of risk,"
19.
Dr . Jeffrey Cutler, head of clinical hypertension trials at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said given that several million elderly Americans have isolated systolic hypertension and there have been no large studies of whether cutting their blood pressure is beneficial, " it's an important thing to nail down ."
20.
In a study of 1, 537 men and women over 60 who had systolic hypertension, Dr . Newman's group found that those with a low ankle / arm blood pressure index were four times likelier to die within the next two years, a risk that was not altered when pre-existing cardiovascular disease and traditional risk factors were considered.
