Recommended Diuretic Drug Tied to Harmful Side Effects

TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 -- Patients taking a common diuretic to help lower blood pressure may be better off with a similarly effective but safer one, a new study suggests.

Current guidelines recommend the drug chlorthalidone (Thalitone) as the first-line diuretic. But it can have serious side effects that can be avoided with another diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide (Hydrodiuril), researchers say.

At High Risk for Heart Disease? Strict Blood Pressure Control Should Help

FRIDAY, Feb. 28, 2020 -- If you're at high risk for heart disease, lowering your blood pressure below the standard target level may help extend your life, a new study suggests.

Specifically, a systolic blood pressure target of less than 120 mm Hg -- rather than the standard 140 mm Hg -- could give someone an extra six months to three years of life, depending on their age when they begin intensive blood pressure control.

AHA News: Could Sunshine Lower Blood Pressure? Study Offers Enlightenment

FRIDAY, Feb. 28, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- Exposure to sunshine is linked to lower blood pressure, says a new study that included hundreds of thousands of patients at dialysis clinics across the United States. But don't use this news as an excuse to book a beach vacation just yet.

For the new study, appearing Friday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers examined blood pressure readings from more than 342,000 patients at nearly 2,200 clinics over three years, starting in January 2011. More than a third of the patients were African American.

Healthy Habits Can Slide After Starting Heart Medications

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 5, 2020 -- Some people let healthy habits fall by the wayside after they start medications for high cholesterol or high blood pressure, a new study finds.

Of more than 41,000 middle-aged Finnish adults researchers followed, those who started on cholesterol or blood pressure drugs were more likely to stop exercising or gain weight in the years afterward.

Blood Pressure Dips Upon Standing Might Not Be as Dangerous as Thought

TUESDAY, Jan. 28, 2020 -- A common condition called "orthostatic hypotension" -- a sudden drop in blood pressure when standing up -- has long been tied to the potential for dangerous falls in older people.

But a new study suggests that doctors who manage blood pressure in older patients shouldn't worry that their treatments are more hazardous for folks with the condition.

'Yo-Yo' Blood Pressure Numbers in Youth a Bad Sign for Health Later

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 22, 2020 -- If your blood pressure numbers swing from low to high and back again in your 20s, that could bode ill for heart health in middle age, new research shows.

In fact, every 4 mm Hg spike in systolic blood pressure -- the top number in a reading -- during young adulthood was tied to a 15% higher risk for heart disease in midlife, the research team found.