August 14th, 2018
Podcast 223: What are the implications of the BP guidelines?
If adopted, last December’s ACC/AHA guidelines on what pressure levels signal hypertension would label almost two thirds of the U.S. population between ages 45 and 75 as having the condition. The number of people who would be candidates for treatment would almost double — from 8 million to about 15 million. What are the implications of […]
November 9th, 2015
Podcast 189: Blood Pressure Target Should Be 120, SPRINT Data Show
The SPRINT study, suggesting that we aim for a systolic BP target of 120 mm Hg in high-risk hypertensive patients, has been published with much fanfare. Dr. Paul Whelton — one of the SPRINT investigators — is our guest. He warns against setting 120 as a performance measure, observing that roughly half the patients in the […]
November 1st, 2015
Podcast 188: Should “deintensification” be a quality-of-care measure?
The ACCORD trial found dangers in too-strict control of blood pressure and glucose in diabetes. Our guest has just published a study in JAMA Internal Medicine measuring the scope of the problem. Using Veterans Affairs data, his group found that “deintensification” of therapy after targets were met or exceeded was disappointingly rare. JAMA Internal Medicine study […]
August 29th, 2014
Podcast 173: Sensible Sodium Levels in View at Last
Running time: 9 minutes In the light of the New England Journal of Medicine‘s recent publication three papers on sodium intake and its implications for cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, and excess mortality, we thought we’d speak again with Dr. Jan Staessen, who surprised a lot of people 3 years ago with a paper in JAMA warning […]
September 14th, 2013
Podcast 167 — The polypill: adherence at last?
Running time: 7 min The recent JAMA article examining the effects of the “polypill” on adherence and clinical benefits in patients with (or at high risk for) cardiovascular disease, is our topic. The polypill in this trial contained fixed doses of four separate drugs: aspirin, a statin, lisinopril and one other blood-pressure-lowering drug — either atenolol […]
December 17th, 2011
Podcast 139: CPAP for obstructive sleep apnea seems to improve some measures of the metabolic syndrome
A double-blind crossover study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea ameliorates some components of the metabolic syndrome, which is present in about three quarters of such patients. The authors acknowledge the difficulty of motivating patients to […]
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