Browsing by Subject "Hypertension"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 26
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Alcohol and high blood pressure(2009-05-06) Abanonu, ChinemeremResearch shows that reduction in alcohol intake among heavy drinkers significantly reduces systolic and diastolic BP. This effect was seen in hypertensive and nonhypertensive subjects and also in those already taking antihypertensive medications. The findings suggest that alcohol reduction should be recommended as an important component of lifestyle modification for the prevention and treatment of hypertension among heavy drinkers.Item Barriers to food access and food security among seniors and the association between hypertension and dietary intake patterns in post-menopausal, African American women(2015-08) Oemichen, MeganAlthough much research has been conducted on the health status of older individuals, few studies have addressed how health status is influenced by factors such as food security, food access, and food choice among the population of older adults. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to investigate food choice and the barriers to adequate food security and food access among seniors, and observe associations between dietary intake, supplement intake, and hypertension among post-menopausal, African American women. Focus groups and food frequency questionnaires were used for this project to better understand the factors that affect dietary behaviors in older adults. Results from this project delineate the influencers of food choice among seniors and explain the association between dietary intake and hypertension for younger and older women. Further, insight is provided for future research and nutrition interventions that may have a beneficial impact on these populations such as implementing an intervention to reduce prevalence of hypertension by increasing supplement intake or creating a survey that could be used at congregate dining sites to improve meal selection.Item Carvedilol offers significant advantages over Metoprolol for control of hypertension in patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus.(2010-07-21) Stish, BradWhen using beta-blocker for blood pressure in patients with Type II diabetes mellitus, the metabolic effects of Carvedilol are superior to those of Metoprolol. While both drugs appear to have equivalent ability to lower blood pressure, patients taking Carvedilol better HgbA1c levels, improved insulin sensitivity, and lower levels of microalbuminuria.Item Controlling blood pressure will protect your kidneys(2012-03-06) Thao, TchaoItem Diabetes and Blood Pressure Control(2010-07-21) Lisberg, AaronLowering the systolic blood pressure of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics can significantly decrease the incidence of diabetes related microvascular complications such as retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage, and renal failure. A 10 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure leads to a 13% (P < 0.0001) decrease in the incidence of microvascular complications.Item Do I Have White-Coat Hypertension or Hypertension? : What you should do to check your blood pressure(2010-07-21) Wentland, AmyMany patients report that they have elevated blood pressures when they go to the doctor’s office, but normal pressures when measured sporadically at places such as a grocery store. This is white-coat hypertension. Because sustained hypertension can have such bad effects on one’s health, differentiating white-coat hypertension from sustained hypertension is very important. This pamphlet is designed to help patients monitor their blood pressure to determine whether their elevated clinic reading is due to white-coat hypertension or hypertension. Patients that have persistently elevated office readings with no end-organ damage should first self-measure their blood pressure for at least 3 days at 12 hr intervals. If elevated, treatment may be initiated, and if normal, ambulatory blood pressure measurements are needed to rule out sustained hypertension.Item Essays on health, education and behavioral choices.(2010-04) Konishi(Zhao), MengMy dissertation is composed of two essays that investigate the interrelationship between consumers' health, education, behavioral choices, and perceptions. The first essay evaluates the impact of teenage smoking on schooling and estimates the lifetime income loss due to lower educational achievement and attainment caused by youth smoking. Using unusually rich data from China, the study shows that youth smoking can biologically reduce learning productivity and discourage motivation to go to school (where smoking is forbidden), resulting in lower educational outcomes and, consequently, reduced lifetime income. The second essay empirically analyzes the effect of a doctor diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure) on food demand and nutrient intake. The study shows that three quarters of the hypertensive population in China are unaware of their condition. Adoctor's diagnosis can lead consumers to update their perceptions about their health and, therefore, make better decisions for their food choices. The study finds that, after a diagnosis of hypertension, consumers significantly reduce their daily fat intake, especially the consumption of animal oil and pork. The effect is stronger for 2004 data, compared to the 1997 and 2000 data. This suggests that consumers have become more health conscious in recent years.Item High Blood Pressure and Diabetes(2010-07-21) Aakre, ChrisMillions of people in our country have high blood pressure. High blood pressure has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of diabetes. Other risk factors for development of Diabetes are discussed. Blood pressure medications can also increase or decrease a patient's risk of developing diabetes. Beta-blockers (BB), such as atenolol, and thiazide diuretics appear to increase risk by as much as 31% compared to treatment with an Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACE-I) and dihydropyridine class Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB). Side effect profiles of common antihypertensive medications are discussed.Item Hypertension and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH)(2009-05-04) Adiarte, EricLeft Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH) is a common complication associated with hypertension. It is associated with significant cardiovascular risk, including death. Its symptoms are not noticeable until late in the disease, so should be checked by your physician, especially if you are also diagnosed with hypertension. Electrocardiogrphy (EKG) is a cheap and sensitive test for LVH. Echocardiography is the gold standard for diagnosing LVH but is not yet indicated for screening purposes.Item Insulin-like growth factors and placental ischemia-induced hypertension in the pregnant rat.(2011-06) Bozadjieva, Nadejda IvanovaPreeclampsia is a gestational condition characterized by new onset hypertension and proteinuria and often results in fetal growth restriction. This pregnancy-specific condition occurs in ~8 percent of live birth pregnancies and is the leading cause of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. Delivery is the primary therapeutic approach for preeclampsia; hence, the long-term goal of preeclampsia research is to determine what causes preeclampsia and to find treatments to alleviate maternal hypertension and extend pregnancy to improve fetal outcome. Chronic placental ischemia via the reduced uteroplacental perfusion pressure (RUPP) model, utilized in this project to mimic the preeclamptic condition during the third trimester in the pregnant rat, results in hypertension, intrauterine growth restriction and fetal loss. Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGF-1 and IGF-2) have been reported to play an important role in fetal development, and low plasma levels of IGF-1 have been associated with reduced endothelial function and have been closely linked with elevated blood pressure in non-pregnant subjects. The hypotheses tested in this project are that 1) placental ischemia induced by RUPP decreases circulating and placental levels of IGF-1 and IGF-2; and 2) administering exogenous IGF-1 in RUPP rats attenuates maternal hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, intrauterine growth restriction and fetal loss. The data show that chronic placental ischemia decreases circulating IGF-2 levels, but does not affect circulating IGF-1 or placental IGF-1, IGF-2 and IGF-1 receptor levels. Further, administering exogenous IGF-1 in RUPP rats during the third trimester attenuates blood pressure and decreases fetal loss, but does not improve endothelial function or fetal weight. Overall, these studies determined that the mechanisms that regulate IGF signaling are potential targets for improved therapies for treating maternal blood pressure in preeclampsia and gestational hypertension.Item A mathematical model of neurally-mediated Angiotensin II-salt hypertension(2015-01) Averina, ViktoriaThis thesis presents a mathematical model of long-term blood pressure control that explains how latent activation of the sympathetic nervous system in the AngII-salt model of hypertension can lead to chronic blood pressure elevation without modifying renal ability to excrete sodium. Previous mathematical models of hypertension were built on the assumption that such modification is necessary. The model integrates four major systems of body fluid and solute control: the cardiovascular system, kidneys, microvascular exchange between extracellular and intracellular compartments, and the sympathetic nervous system. The model excludes two major hypotheses used in previous mathematical models: the chronic pressure-natriuresis mechanism and the whole-body autoregulation mechanism; the model adds a hypothesis of slow long-term activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which acts to increase pressure via increased non-renal arterial resistances and venous tone. Despite the difference in assumptions, the model's predictions agree well with all major classical observations associated with AngII-salt hypertension, including the pressure-natriuresis phenomenon. Analysis of the model demonstrates that the pressure-natriuresis curves are projections of a three-dimensional dynamics driven by both renal and neural control and reflect an additive impact of both controls on blood pressure. Thus, the current interpretation of pressure-natriuresis curves as the result only of a direct mechanistic impact of arterial pressure on renal function may not be warranted in some cases of hypertension. The presented model conclusively demonstrates that AngII-salt hypertension can be maintained without the sole renal dominance.Item Model, tables, figures, and data supporting Computational model captures cardiac growth in hypertensive pregnancies and in the postpartum period(2024-02-16) Kaissar, Molly; Yoshida, Kyoko; kyoshida@umn.edu; Yoshida, Kyoko; University of Minnesota Pregnancy Research and Engineering GroupHeart growth in the pregnant patient helps maintain cardiovascular function while supporting the growing fetus. However, in some cases, the cardiovascular demand of pregnancy can trigger life-threatening conditions, including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and peripartum cardiomyopathy. We previously developed a computational model that accounts for hormonal and hemodynamic interactions throughout pregnancy to uncover the mechanisms behind this heart growth. Here, we evaluated its breadth, applying it to normal and abnormal rat pregnancies and after delivery. This dataset includes supplemental data and tables that support our findings and accompany our manuscriptItem Neural control of the splanchnic circulation in AngII-salt hypertension(2014-05) Kuroki, Marcos TakuyaSympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity is elevated in some forms of essential hypertension. What causes sympathetic tone to be elevated, and how it mediates hypertension, however, is unclear. Angiotensin II (AngII) and a high dietary salt appears to be involved since in rats, chronic peripheral infusion of AngII induces a form of hypertension that is accompanied by increased indices of peripheral sympathetic tone selectively when they are fed a high sodium diet. Studies in this model have shown that contrary to prevailing views, peripheral sympathetic tone was diminished to the kidneys, but instead, suggested that it may be elevated selectively to the splanchnic vascular bed. Based on these findings, the initial aim of this thesis was to characterize, in conscious rats, the local hemodynamics within the splanchnic vascular bed and the role of the SNS in mediating changes in splanchnic vascular hemodynamics during AngII-salt hypertension. Studies were carried out to test the hypothesis that in addition to sympathetically mediated increases in splanchnic venous tone, AngII-salt hypertension was mediated by enhanced sympathetic vasoconstriction of splanchnic arterioles occurring through its peripheral sympathetic nerve supply. Splanchnic vascular resistance was found to be elevated in AngII-salt hypertensive rats; however, these hemodynamic changes occurred even after removal of direct sympathetic innervation to the splanchnic vascular bed by surgical denervation (celiac ganglionectomy). Furthermore, unlike previously shown, celiac ganglionectomy did not result in lowering of blood pressure during AngII-salt hypertension. Thus, contrary to the original hypothesis, changes in direct sympathetic input to the splanchnic vasculature did not mediate AngII-salt hypertension. Additional studies in this thesis found that part of the problem with this inconsistent finding may be related to the technique commonly used to generate the model. Furthermore, studies in this thesis found, using chronic pharmacological adrenergic blockade, that the contribution of the SNS in AngII-salt hypertension may have been overestimated. Thus, the combined findings in this thesis and prior studies suggest that a fraction of AngII-salt hypertension is mediated by enhanced peripheral sympathetic tone, not through direct vasoconstrictive input to the splanchnic vasculature, but possibly via its influence on other non-renal splanchnic organs.Item Novel therapies for hypertension and associated cardiovascular risk(2018-08) Annoni, ElizabethThis thesis is comprised of two parts. The first part investigates a novel therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, for hypertension and hypertension-induced heart disease. Hypertension impacts over 1 billion people worldwide, and clinical management is challenging. Left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular events. The majority of hypertensive patients are treated with anti-hypertensive drugs to control blood pressure, but many limitations exist including resistant hypertension, inability to tolerate therapy, and non-compliance with the medication regime. For these patients, an alternative approach is needed to control blood pressure. Recently, the imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, evident in hypertension, has been the target of novel device-based therapies such as vagus nerve stimulation. The main goal of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation to treat hypertension and hypertension-induced heart disease. This thesis investigates the impact of vagus nerve stimulation on disease progression, survival, and cardiovascular remodeling in Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats. Overall, the results of this work provide evidence for the beneficial therapeutic effects of vagus nerve stimulation in hypertension and motivate future studies to optimize therapy parameters and further understand therapeutic mechanisms. The second part of this thesis focuses on atrial fibrillation and the evaluation of new mapping techniques for improving rotor localization for ablation procedures. Currently, success rates for ablation procedures for non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation are low and require repeat procedures or a lifetime of pharmacological agents to reduce the risk of stroke. Improved signal processing techniques for mapping electrical activity in the atrium can help further our understanding of the generation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation and ultimately improve ablation procedure success rates and terminate the arrhythmia. The main goal of this work was to validate new signal processing techniques – multiscale frequency, kurtosis, Shannon entropy, and multiscale entropy – to identify regions of abnormal electrical activity. The results of this work demonstrate improved accuracy of these novel techniques in mapping rotors in cardiac arrhythmias and motivates further studies evaluating more complex arrhythmias and human intracardiac electrograms.Item Preventing High Blood Pressure in African American Populations(2009-09-18) Berry, BrentHypertension (or high blood pressure) is a problem for many Americans with higher prevalence among African Americans. There are simple steps before advising the use of medications to take to ensure this problem does not lead to long-term systemic effects such as stroke, heart failure, and/or kidney disease.Item Preventing High Blood Pressure in African American Populations(2010-07-21) Berry, BrentHypertension (or high blood pressure) is a problem for many Americans with higher prevalence among African Americans. There are simple steps before advising the use of medications to take to ensure this problem does not lead to long-term systemic effects such as stroke, heart failure, and/or kidney disease.Item Regulators of Complement System Activation Change with Placental Ischemiainduced Hypertension in Rat(2016) Strehlke, MeganPreeclampsia is characterized by new onset hypertension, reduced placental perfusion, and increased activation of the complement system, part of the innate immune system. It remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in mother and fetus, complicating 28% of pregnancies (Steegers et al, 2010). This condition results in decreased blood flow to the placenta due to abnormal remodeling of uterine arteries. This can lead to lower birth weight and preterm birth. Besides administering medication to reduce blood pressure with possible adverse effects on the fetus, there is no therapy except delivery of the placenta (Steegers et al, 2010).Item The role of complement system activation in placental ischemia-induced hypertension(2013-10) Lillegard, Kathryn ElisabethPreeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific condition characterized by new-onset hypertension and proteinuria associated with placental ischemia. Because no cure exists besides parturition, preeclampsia remains a leading cause of maternal and perinatal death and morbidity. New management strategies are urgently needed to attenuate maternal symptoms and prolong gestation. Immune activity is normally heightened in pregnancy and has been shown to increase even further in preeclampsia, as evidenced by elevations in innate immune complement activation products, including C3a. Decreased circulating free vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a known contributor to preeclampsia and previous studies have demonstrated a link between VEGF and complement. We therefore hypothesized that complement activation is critical to placental ischemia-induced hypertension. To test this, we used the Reduced Utero-placental Perfusion Pressure (RUPP) model of placental ischemia in the rat to induce hypertension and explore the effects of inhibiting complement activation and antagonizing a specific complement receptor in this model. The data demonstrate that complement activation occurred following placental ischemia and administration of soluble complement receptor 1, an inhibitor of complement activation, successfully prevented complement activation and abrogated the hypertension without influencing circulating free VEGF concentrations. To determine the specific complement component responsible, we used a C3a receptor antagonist to inhibit C3a-mediated cellular responses that may be important in placental ischemia-induced hypertension. The C3a receptor antagonist attenuated the hypertension and improved placental efficiency and did not affect circulating free VEGF, suggesting complement may be important in hypertension apart from circulating free VEGF concentrations. Overall, these data suggest a potentially valuable role for specific complement inhibition in managing the symptoms of preeclampsia.Item Role of Innate Immune Macrophages in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension(2020-04) Hamm, Cassandra M; Towner, Kendra; Root, Kate; Regal, JeanPreeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disease characterized by abnormal arterial remodeling that results in placental insufficiency and placental ischemia. Recent studies have shown a specific association with macrophages and the development of hypertension. Macrophages are large, phagocytic white blood cells that have the ability to attack foreign cells and unhealthy self-cells. The pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by macrophages have been shown to contribute to blood pressure elevation and subsequent tissue damage. Macrophages can further polarize into different subtypes, labelled as M1 and M2 macrophages. In preeclampsia, data suggests that M1 macrophages increase at the maternal-fetal interface. Normally numerous macrophages reside in the peritoneal cavity and can move to different sites throughout the body depending on the circumstances. We hypothesized that placental ischemia results in macrophage movement from the peritoneal cavity to the site of ischemia in the placenta.Item The Role of Macrophages in Developmental Programming of Type 2 Diabetes(2021-03-15) Molin, Alexa M; Root, Kate; Polack, Vonda; Huchthausen, Margaretta; Regal, JeanHypertensive disorders are a common pregnancy complication that can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) in offspring. Preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder characterized by high blood pressure with new-onset proteinuria is initiated by placental ischemia. Studies from the Regal lab showed placental ischemia induced hypertension in female rat offspring leads to a reduced β-cell area associated with an increase in pancreatic islet macrophages. Therefore, depletion of macrophages may allow beta-cell area to recover and lower the risk of T2D. The goal of this study is to deplete macrophages in the pancreatic islets using Clophosome clodronate injections of postnatal day 13 female rats.