BACKGROUND The presence and implications of abnormal arterial stiffness, a potential independent predictor of outcomes, in community-dwelling treated hypertensives is unknown. Furthermore, limited data exist regarding the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with arterial stiffness across the entire range of blood pressure. METHODS AND RESULTS We measured carotid-femoral pulse wave...

Studies performed in experimental animals and in humans have documented that high blood pressure markedly impairs baroreceptor control of heart rate. Whether a similar impairment also characterizes baroreceptor control of sympathetic activity modulating peripheral vasomotor tone is still unknown. In 28 untreated essential hypertensive subjects [14 of moderate and 14 of more severe degree, age 5...

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of baroreceptors of renal hypertensive rabbits to reset rapidly during acute changes in arterial pressure. The carotid sinus (CS) was vascularly isolated and baroreceptor activity was recorded during slow ramp increases in CS pressure in hypertensive (one-kidney, one wrap; 127 +/- 3 mm Hg) and normotensive (one-kidney, no wrap; 85 +/- 3 mm Hg...

BACKGROUND We investigated whether serum concentration of carboxy-terminal propeptide of procollagen type I (PIP), a marker of collagen type I synthesis, can be used to assess the ability of antihypertensive treatment to regress myocardial fibrosis in hypertensive patients. METHODS AND RESULTS The study was performed in 37 patients with essential hypertension and hypertensive heart disease. A...

In Finland's North Karelia region a community-based program for control of hypertension was administered for 5 years. Afterward, drug treatment and the impact of such treatment on control of blood pressure were studied in a cross-sectional survey. The study population (n = 10,199) consisted of a 6.6% random sample of people aged 30-64 years in North Karelia (program area) and Kuopio (reference ...

The reason why hyperinsulinemia is associated with essential hypertension is not known. To test the hypothesis of a pathophysiologic link mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, we measured the changes in forearm norepinephrine release, by using the forearm perfusion technique in conjunction with the infusion of tritiated NE, in patients with essential hypertension and in normal subjects re...

In Finland's North Karelia region a community-based program for control of hypertension was administered for 5 years. Afterward, drug treatment and the impact of such treatment on control of blood pressure were studied in a cross-sectional survey. The study population (n = 10,199) consisted of a 6.6% random sample of people aged 30-64 years in North Karelia (program area) and Kuopio (reference ...