A new study has identified the first common gene variants associated with an increased incidence of hypertension – a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.

Huijing Xia, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Eric Lazartigues, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author on a paper reporting that a recently identified enzyme in the brain plays a critically important role in the central regulation of blood pressure.

Women who experience severe gestational hypertension may give birth to boys at lower risk for testicular cancer, although the exact reasons why are still unclear, according to a paper published in the November 1, 2008, issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

A hypertension medication called olmesartan medoxomil is effective in reversing the narrowing of the arteries that occurs in patients with high blood pressure, according to a new study.

Bleeding from ruptured esophageal varices is the main complication of portal hypertension and a major cause of death. About one-third of variceal bleeding episodes are fatal while 70% of survivors re-bleed within a year.

Two new clinical trials presented by Calpis Co., Ltd. at the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) Twenty-Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2008) in New Orleans show that the milk-derived dietary supplement AmealPeptide® reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

A large, randomized drug trial has shown for the first time that statin drugs result in a modest, but significant, reduction in blood pressure. These effects may contribute to the reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular events reported for patients on statins, according to lead investigator Beatrice Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and director of UC San Diego’s Statin Study.

The medications known as statins, typically prescribed to lower blood cholesterol levels, may also modestly reduce blood pressure, according to a report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

For the first time, the American Heart Association has issued guidelines to help patients and healthcare providers tackle resistant high blood pressure that seems to defy treatment.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have found that rare mutations in three genes contribute to blood pressure variation in the general population.

Adding the relaxation response, a stress-management approach, to other lifestyle interventions may significantly improve treatment of the type of hypertension most common in the elderly.

Adults with hypertension may be able to lower their weight and their blood pressure by following a weight-loss diet or using the medication orlistat, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies reported in the March 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.