When the results of a major long-term, multicenter study, the Trial of Preventing Hypertension (TROPHY), were called into question in two editorials published in the November 2006 issue of the American Journal of Hypertension (AJH), it was inevitable that an exchange of views between the study's supporters and detractors would occur. The essential issue is whether the TROPHY data support the conclusions reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Interrupting nerve signals to the liver can prevent diabetes and hypertension in mice, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The finding is reported in the February issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

Garlic has been hailed a wonder drug for centuries and has been used to prevent gangrene, treat high blood pressure, ward off common colds and is even believed by some to have cancer-fighting properties.

Beta blocker drugs are commonly used in the initial attempts to lower blood pressure. However a Cochrane Review shows that they were not as good at reducing death or the severity of disease as other classes of drugs. Drugs that perform better include thiazides, calcium channel blockers and renin angiotensin system inhibitors.

Individuals with diagnosed hypertension in the United States appear to have lower blood pressure readings and better hypertension control than patients in five Western European countries, according to a report in the January 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Patients with high blood pressure are more likely to develop new-onset diabetes than those who don't have hypertension, but this tendency is often attributed to higher weight, recent weight gain, or stronger family history of diabetes among those with high blood pressure Doctors have known since 1958 that some drugs used to control high blood pressure have the side effect of increasing blood sugar and causing new-onset diabetes.

Some 50 million Americans have hypertension, that is, blood pressure measuring above the normal range (less than 120/80 mmHg). If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney disease. Lifestyle changes are the first-stage treatment for the disease, but if they fail, medications are prescribed.

Given that around half of the world's burden of cardiovascular disease is carried by low and middle income countries in the region, these findings, published by the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) in the Journal of Hypertension, highlight the immense impact that blood pressure-lowering strategies could have in the area.

Switching patients to more cost-effective drugs for cholesterol and blood pressure problems could save the UK's National Health Service a billion pounds over the next five years without compromising clinical care, according to a study in the January issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

New journal starts publication by looking at controlling the No. 1 cause of death

Researchers report that for patients hospitalized with acute heart failure, a higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with a substantially lower in-hospital mortality rate. For every 5-unit increase in body mass, the odds of risk-adjusted mortality fell 10 percent. The finding held when adjusted for age, sex, blood urea nitrogen, blood pressure, and additional prognostic factors.

Hypertension and prehypertension in adolescents and young adults was associated with a higher risk of having an abnormally enlarged heart, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.