Mechanical circulatory support using left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) has been demonstrated to improve survival in patients with advanced heart failure. Left ventricular assist device therapy also promotes reverse ventricular remodeling, which in some cases has led to sufficient myocardial recovery to allow LVAD removal. Identification of suitable patients for LVAD removal however remain...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the potential benefit of a workplace physical activity program on daytime sleepiness. METHODS: A total of 685 participants of a 4-month workplace physical activity program were assessed for daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]) at baseline, 4 months (postprogram), and 12 months. Changes in ESS were analyzed using multilevel mixed linear regression. RESULTS...

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and its associated factors in a mixed population of employed Australian workers. METHODS: Study participants (n = 707) were volunteers from various Melbourne workplaces, participating in a workplace physical activity program in 2008. Daytime sleepiness was assessed using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), with EDS d...

BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Chronic heart failure (CHF) management programs (CHF-MPs) are applied in different ways including via face-to-face settings. However, we know little about consumer preferences when applying CHF-MPs via a patient's home or specialist hospital clinic. The aim of this pilot study was to explore CHF-MP characteristics that are considered desirable by patients wit...

OBJECTIVE: Microvascular dysfunction has been suggested to be a major pathogenic factor for the development of hypertension. We examined the association between retinal vascular caliber, a marker of systemic microvascular dysfunction, and incident hypertension on a meta-analysis of individual participant data. METHODS: We performed a systematic review with relevant studies identified through...

OBJECTIVE:: Renal denervation (RDN) has been demonstrated to reduce muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and blood pressure (BP) in patients with resistant hypertension. Whether alterations of arterial stiffness may contribute to BP-lowering effects of RDN is unknown. METHODS:: We measured office BP and arterial stiffness using fingertip tonometry-derived augmentation index (EndoPAT2000) at...

BACKGROUND: Hypertension and increased blood glucose are associated with subclinical kidney damage, atherosclerosis and with low testosterone values. Low testosterone in men is often accompanied by increased levels of estradiol. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: In this study, the association between estradiol, subclinical kidney damage and atherosclerosis in African and white men in a South African c...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of pain perception and pain stimulus components for blood pressure responses to stress in the black and the white African population with hypertension. BASIC METHODS: Cardiovascular regulation in response to a cold pressor stimulus was studied in hypertensive black (n = 110) and white (n = 95) Africans. Perception of stressfulness of the task was assessed on a...

OBJECTIVE: There is ongoing discussion on how best to screen for diabetes mellitus. Previous studies suggest that an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is better than fasting glucose levels in predicting cardiovascular mortality, which is largely determined by macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes. We examined the relationship between screening methods for diabetes and indice...

OBJECTIVE: Blood pressure (BP) and breast cancer may share a common pathophysiologic pathway involving chronic inflammation, hormone synthesis and metabolism. Previous studies investigating the association between BP and breast cancer measured BP at a single time point and did not examine associations by breast cancer molecular subtypes. METHODS: We used data from 22 833 female participa...

OBJECTIVE: To measure the placebo-controlled effects of combination therapy on hypotension, treatment discontinuation, and major renal outcomes, according to baseline blood pressure. METHODS: We conducted an analysis of the action in diabetes and vascular disease: preterax and diamicron-MR controlled evaluation ADVANCE and perindopril protection against recurrent stroke study PROGRESS tr...

AIMS: Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) is often present in conditions associated with increased cardiovascular risk yet it is not recognized as a marker of risk. We evaluated whether SUA was associated with evidence of early markers of cardiovascular risk factor including subclinical early organ damage, sympathetic tone and metabolic profile in a healthy population with a high prevalence of ob...

OBJECTIVE: Blood pressure high Schlager (BPH/2J) mice have neurogenic hypertension associated with differences in hypothalamic GABAA receptors compared with their normotensive counterparts (BPN/3J). Allopregnanolone is an endogenous neurosteroid reduced in chronic stress, and when administered, decreases anxiety by positive allosteric modulation of GABAA receptors. METHODS: To determine ...

BACKGROUND: Sleep-disordered breathing, predominantly obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is highly prevalent in patients with hypertension. OSA may underlie the progression to resistant hypertension, partly due to increased activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This analysis of patients with and without OSA evaluated the blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect of sympathetic modulation by re...

OBJECTIVE: Prolonged sitting is increasingly recognized as a ubiquitous cardiometabolic risk factor, possibly distinct from lack of physical exercise. We examined whether interrupting prolonged sitting with brief bouts of light-intensity activity reduced blood pressure (BP) and plasma noradrenaline in type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: In a randomized crossover trial, 24 inactive overweight...

OBJECTIVE: The Ambulatory blood pressure Registry TEleMonitoring of hypertension and cardiovascular rISk project was designed to set up an international registry including clinic blood pressure (CBP) and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) measurements in patients attending hypertension clinics in all five continents, aiming to assess different daily life hypertension types. METHODS: Cross-s...

OBJECTIVE: High-fat diet (HFD)-induced hypertension in rabbits is neurogenic because of the central sympathoexcitatory actions of leptin. Hypothalamic melanocortin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons are recognized as the major signalling pathways through which leptin exerts its central effects. In this study, we assessed the effects of specific antagonists and agonists to melanocortin and NPY ...

OBJECTIVES: To analyse trends during 1980-2011 in hypertension prevalence and SBP/DBP by sex in Fiji Melanesian (i-Taukei) and Indian adults aged 25-64 years; and to assess effects of BMI. METHODS: Unit record data from five population-based surveys were included (n = 14, 191). Surveys were adjusted to the nearest previous census to improve national representativeness. Hypertension was d...

BACKGROUND: Observational studies examining associations between hypertension and cancer are inconsistent. We explored the association of hypertension, graded hypertension and antihypertensive treatment with cancer incidence and mortality. METHOD: Eighty-six thousand five hundred and ninety-three participants from the Australian and New Zealand Diabetes and Cancer Collaboration were linked t...

AIM: To examine the effect of renal denervation (RDN) on blood pressure (BP) and health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with resistant hypertension, pseudoresistant hypertension due to a white-coat effect and in patients with uncontrolled masked hypertension. METHODS: Using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and ...