Impressive Antihypertensive Effect With Flaxseed

LOS ANGELES — Adding flaxseed to the diets of patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) resulted in large drops in blood pressure (BP) of around 10 mm Hg systolic and 7 mm Hg diastolic after six months, according to the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

"This reduction of SBP and DBP after administration of dietary flaxseed is the largest decrease in BP ever shown by any dietary intervention," said Dr Delfin Rodriguez (University Hospital Holguin, Cuba) speaking here today at the American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions. Such reductions would be expected to result in around a 50% fall in the incidence of stroke and a 30% reduction in MI, he added.

SOURCE

ACE inhibitor treated hypertension linked to 10% reduction of all-cause mortality

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reduce mortality in hypertension:

 a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials of renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors involving 158 998 patients

 Stratified subgroup analysis according to class of drug showed a differential treatment effect between ACE inhibitors and ARBs.

 The overall reduction in all-cause mortality resulted almost completely from the class of ACE inhibitors, which were associated with a statistically significant 10% relative reduction in all-cause mortality, whereas no mortality reduction was observed with the ARBs.

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What Role Do Nondihydropyridines Have in Patients With CKD?

Roughly 50%-75% of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have high blood pressure. Therefore, it is important to know which antihypertensive interventions are associated with positive outcomes in these patients.^[1,2] The National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-KDOQI™) practice guidelines address the pharmacotherapeutic management of this patient population, compiling the subanalyses of trials that focused on the use of antihypertensive agents in patients with CKD.^[2-5]

Do differences in blood pressure between arms matter?

Doctors who make a habit of measuring blood pressure in only one arm may be doing their patients a disservice.
A new study shows that differences in blood pressure readings between a patient’s right and left arm could be a sign of vascular disease and a greater risk of dying from heart disease. The study, published in The Lancet, suggests doctors should always take blood pressure readings on both arms — an existing guideline that is widely ignored.
“Recommendations to measure both arms exist in both British and American blood pressure management guidelines,” said Dr. Christopher Clark, the lead author of the study and a clinical academic fellow at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in England. “This is out there as guidance, but it’s guidance that isn’t regularly followed.”