Smoking and Antihypertensive Medication: Interaction between Blood Pressure Reduction and Arterial Stiffness

Effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure amplification.

The brachial artery pressure waveform is abnormal in smokers, but the effect of smoking on the aortic pressure waveform in both smokers and nonsmokers, particularly in the younger population, is unknown. We compared the acute and chronic effects of smoking on large-artery properties in 185 healthy young smokers and nonsmokers (mean+/-SD, 22+/-5 years). We matched 41 chronic smokers for age, hei...

Effects of smoking cessation on central blood pressure and arterial stiffness

PURPOSE Smoking affects arterial stiffness, thus causing an elevation in central blood pressure (CBP). The present study was designed to examine whether smoking cessation treatment improved CBP and arterial stiffness. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted an observational study of 70 patients receiving smoking cessation treatment. Before and 60 weeks after the start of a 12-week varenicline treat...

Reduction of false arterial blood pressure alarms using signal quality assessment and relationships between the electrocardiogram and arterial blood pressure.

The paper presents an algorithm for reducing false alarms related to changes in arterial blood pressure (ABP) in intensive care unit (ICU) monitoring. The algorithm assesses the ABP signal quality, analyses the relationship between the electrocardiogram and ABP using a fuzzy logic approach and post-processes (accepts or rejects) ABP alarms produced by a commercial monitor. The algorithm was dev...

The Association Between Antihypertensive Medication Nonadherence and Visit-to-Visit Variability of Blood Pressure

Association between antihypertensive medication adherence and visit-to-visit variability of blood pressure.

It has been hypothesized that high visit-to-visit variability (VVV) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) may be the result of poor antihypertensive medication adherence. The authors studied this association using data from 1391 individuals taking antihypertensive medication selected from a large managed care organization. The 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, administered during 3 annual s...