Category: Health

{Almost 20 per cent of the food made available to consumers is lost through over-eating or waste, a study suggests.
}

The world population consumes around 10 per cent more food than it needs, while almost nine per cent is thrown away or left to spoil, researchers say.

Efforts to reduce the billions of tonnes lost could improve global food security — ensuring everyone has access to a safe, affordable, nutritious diet — and help prevent damage to the environment, the team says.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh examined ten key stages in the global food system — including food consumption and the growing and harvesting of crops — to quantify the extent of losses.

Using data collected primarily by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the team found that more food is lost from the system than was previously thought.

Almost half of harvested crops — or 2.1 billion tonnes — are lost through over-consumption, consumer waste and inefficiencies in production processes, researchers say.

Livestock production is the least efficient process, with losses of 78 per cent or 840 million tonnes, the team found. Some 1.08 billion tonnes of harvested crops are used to produce 240 million tonnes of edible animal products including meat, milk and eggs.

This stage alone accounts for 40 per cent of all losses of harvested crops, researchers say.

Increased demand for some foods, particularly meat and dairy products, would decrease the efficiency of the food system and could make it difficult to feed the world’s expanding population in sustainable ways, researchers say.

Meeting this demand could cause environmental harm by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, depleting water supplies and causing loss of biodiversity.

Encouraging people to eat fewer animal products, reduce waste and not exceed their nutritional needs could help to reverse these trends, the team says.

The study is published in the journal Agricultural Systems. It was carried out in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College, University of York, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research.

The research was funded through a Global Food Security Programme supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council and the Scottish Government.

Dr. Peter Alexander, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences and Scotland’s Rural College, who led the study, said: “Reducing losses from the global food system would improve food security and help prevent environmental harm. Until now, it was not known how over-eating impacts on the system. Not only is it harmful to health, we found that over-eating is bad for the environment and impairs food security.”

Professor Dominic Moran, of the University of York, who was involved in the study, said: “This study highlights that food security has production and consumption dimensions that need to be considered when designing sustainable food systems. It also highlights that the definition of waste can mean different things to different people.”

Source:Science Daily

{If you know healthy eating is important for your kids but you also feel like it’s easier said than done, you’re not alone.}

Nearly all parents agree with the importance of healthy diets during childhood, according to a new national poll. But when it comes to their own homes, only a third of parents of children ages 4-18 are confident they are doing a good job shaping their child’s eating habits.

While a little more than half of parents polled believe their children eat mostly healthy, only one in six rate their children’s diets as very nutritious, according to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Meanwhile, about a fourth of parents say their child’s eating is somewhat or not healthy at all.

Common challenges get in the way: Price, picky eaters and convenience.

“Most parents understand that they should provide healthy food for their children, but the reality of work schedules, children’s activities and different food preferences can make meal preparation a hectic and frustrating experience,” says poll co-director Sarah Clark.

“The tension between buying foods children like, and buying foods that are healthy, can be an ongoing struggle. Many of us know the feeling of spending time and money on a healthy meal only to have our children grimace at the sight of it and not take a single bite.”

Most parents polled agree it’s important to promote a healthy diet for their children. Still, one in five don’t think it’s important to limit fast food and junk food in their child’s diet. Another 16 percent believe it is somewhat or not important to limit sugary drinks.

In general, parents of teens were less worried about unhealthy eating habits compared to parents of younger children.

“It can be easy to slip into more convenient habits that seem less stressful and less expensive. But if occasional fast food or junk food becomes the norm, it will be even more difficult to promote healthy habits for kids as they grow up,” Clark says.

“Many convenience foods are high in sugar, fat and calories and overconsumption of fast food can cause childhood obesity and other health problems.”

Another hurdle: The often overwhelming quest to shop healthy. Nearly half of parents polled admit that it is difficult to tell which foods are actually good for them. Phrases such as all-natural, low-fat, organic, and sugar-free are used inconsistently on food labels and packaging and can be confusing for shoppers.

Additionally, about one in four parents say healthy foods are not available where they shop, a challenge which is more prominent among parents with lower education and income levels.

“Most parents want their children to eat as healthy as possible but may need help making that happen,” Clark says. “Some parents need help with shopping, meal preparation, or other household chores so that mealtimes are not so hectic. Others would benefit from easy-to-understand information on how to identify packaged foods that are healthy, ideas on how to make kid-friendly recipes a little healthier, and practical suggestions on convincing picky eaters to try a more balanced diet.”

This report is based on responses from 1,767 parents who had at least one child age 4-18 years.

Source:Science Daily

{Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by sharp, lancinating pain in the teeth or facial area. The standard treatment for this chronic nerve pain can cause burdening side effects. A novel substance inhibits the pain effectively and is well tolerated, as documented by the initial results of an international study involving the Center of Dental Medicine at the University of Zurich.}

The sharp pain shoots to the face or teeth and seriously torments patients. Known as trigeminal neuralgia, it is one of the worst chronic nerve pains. The bouts are triggered by touch, such as shaving, putting on make-up, showering, talking and tooth brushing, or even a gust of wind. The cause is usually an irritation of the trigeminal nerve, the cranial nerve responsible for the sensory innervation of the facial area, parts of the scalp, and the oral cavity.

However, there is now a glimmer of hope for patients: Thanks to a newly tested substance, the pain can be reduced to a tolerable level, as indicated by the promising results of an international phase II study involving the Center of Dental Medicine at the University of Zurich.

{{Less burdening side effects}}

Pain signals reach the brain via the activation of sodium channels located in the membranes of nerve cells. The sodium channel “1.7” is frequently expressed on pain-conducting nerves and higher pain intensity is linked to higher channel activity. Blocking this sodium channel — e.g. by a local anesthetic — inhibits the pain. In trigeminal neuralgia, the nerve damage is presumed to be at the base of the skull. However, this region is hard to reach by local injections and therefore requires drug treatment.

The novel substance BIIB074 which was tested in this phase II study inhibits the sodium channel 1.7 state-dependent, meaning: The more active this sodium channel gets, the stronger it is blocked by BIIB074. By contrast, currently available medications block the sodium channel 1.7 irrespective of the nerve activity, which commonly results in burdening side effects. “Unlike conventional drugs, which often cause tiredness and concentration problems, BIIB074 was not only effective; but also very well tolerated,” explains Dominik Ettlin, a dental specialist from UZH. “We will now test the new substance in a lot more subjects during the next study phase, which will reveal whether the new hope for more effective pain relief is justified,” he concludes.

{{Trigeminal neuralgia}}

Around 13 people in every 100,000 are diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia every year — that’s around 1,100 throughout Switzerland. Trigeminal neuralgia affects more women than men, the majority of whom are pensioners. Around one percent of all multiple sclerosis patients develop trigeminal neuralgia.

Source:Science Daily

{Vitamin D supplements protect against acute respiratory infections including colds and flu, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).}

The study provides the most robust evidence yet that vitamin D has benefits beyond bone and muscle health, and could have major implications for public health policy, including the fortification of foods with vitamin D to tackle high levels of deficiency in the UK.

The results, published in The BMJ, are based on a new analysis of raw data from around 11,000 participants in 25 clinical trials conducted in 14 countries including the UK, USA, Japan, India, Afghanistan, Belgium, Italy, Australia and Canada.

Individually, these trials yielded conflicting results, with some reporting that vitamin D protected against respiratory infections, and others showing no effect.

Lead researcher Professor Adrian Martineau from QMUL said: “This major collaborative research effort has yielded the first definitive evidence that vitamin D really does protect against respiratory infections. Our analysis of pooled raw data from each of the 10,933 trial participants allowed us to address the thorny question of why vitamin D ‘worked’ in some trials, but not in others.

“The bottom line is that the protective effects of vitamin D supplementation are strongest in those who have the lowest vitamin D levels, and when supplementation is given daily or weekly rather than in more widely spaced doses.

“Vitamin D fortification of foods provides a steady, low-level intake of vitamin D that has virtually eliminated profound vitamin D deficiency in several countries. By demonstrating this new benefit of vitamin D, our study strengthens the case for introducing food fortification to improve vitamin D levels in countries such as the UK where profound vitamin D deficiency is common.”

Vitamin D — the ‘sunshine vitamin’ — is thought to protect against respiratory infections by boosting levels of antimicrobial peptides — natural antibiotic-like substances — in the lungs. Results of the study fit with the observation that colds and ‘flu are commonest in winter and spring, when levels of vitamin D are at their lowest. They may also explain why vitamin D protects against asthma attacks, which are commonly triggered by respiratory viruses.

Daily or weekly supplementation halved the risk of acute respiratory infection in people with the lowest baseline vitamin D levels, below 25 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L). However, people with higher baseline vitamin D levels also benefited, although the effect was more modest (10 per cent risk reduction). Overall, the reduction in risk of acute respiratory infection induced by vitamin D was on a par with the protective effect of injectable ‘flu vaccine against ‘flu-like illnesses.

Acute respiratory infections are a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. Upper respiratory infections such as colds and ‘flu are the commonest reason for GP consultations and days off work. Acute lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia are less common, but caused an estimated 2.65 million deaths worldwide in 2013. Vitamin D supplementation is safe and inexpensive, so reductions in acute respiratory infections brought about by vitamin D supplementation could be highly cost-effective.

The study was conducted by a consortium of 25 investigators from 21 institutions worldwide and funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Professor Hywel Williams, director of the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme said: “The interesting findings of this large study are worthy of serious further debate. This study is yet another example of how the NIHR HTA Programme reaches the parts that other research funders may not tackle.”

Source:Science Daily

{There are lots of benefits you can get from eating pineapples regularly. Check them out below.}

1. Regular pineapple consumption has been shown to decrease risk of and progression of age-related macular degeneration.

2. Regular consumption of pineapple helps prevent cold.

3. Pineapples contain rich amounts of manganese which helps strengthen the bones and connective tissues.

4. Potassium helps lower blood pressure and pineapple contains a good amount of potassium.

5. Pineapples aid digestion and prevents constipation because of its high fiber and water content.

6. The abundance of antioxidants in pineapples help fight against free radicals that cause cancer.

7. Pineapples are good for the heart because they contain powerful antioxidants that help lower the cholesterol levels in the body.

8. Pineapples contain a good amount of vitamin C and antioxidants which boost the immunity system of our body.

9. Regular pineapple consumption reduces wrinkles and improves your overall skin texture.

10. Pineapple contains an enzyme known as bromelain which reduces swelling, bruising, healing time and pain associated with injury and surgery.

11. Pineapples help improve fertility in men and women due to its vitamin C, beta-carotene, copper, zinc, vitamins and folate content.

Source:Elcrema

{Patients facing grim outlook from treatment-resistant disease now thriving.}

Genomic testing of biopsies from patients with deadly, treatment-resistant cancerous blood syndromes called histiocytoses allowed doctors to identify genes fueling the ailments and use targeted molecular drugs to successfully treat them.

Researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute report their data in Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight (JCI Insight). They recommend the regular use of comprehensive genomic profiling at diagnosis to positively impact clinical care, as well as rigorous clinical trials to verify and extend the diagnostic and treatment conclusions in their study.

Histiocytoses are a group of disorders in which abnormal accumulations of white blood cells form tumors on vital organs, leading to systemic organ damage or death. About half of the patients can be treated successfully with chemotherapy, but others are treatment resistant.

Study authors conducted genomic profiling of biopsies from 72 child and adult patients with a variety of treatment-resistant histiocytoses, including the most common one in children, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), according to the lead investigator, Ashish Kumar, MD, PhD.

Twenty-six patients with treatment-resistant disease had gene mutations involving either BRAF or MAP2K1 that directly activate the MAP-kinase cancer pathway. Researchers determined such patients would benefit from the targeted molecular therapies dabrafenib or trametinib, which block the MAP kinase pathway. The approved cancer drugs were prescribed off label to the histiocytosis patients.

“In the last year, three patients we treated were infants with disease that was resistant to several rounds of intense chemotherapy. In the past, these children either would have suffered serious complications including death or would have had to endure more intensive treatments and the ensuing toxicities, including the risk of death,” Kumar said. “All three are thriving now on one oral medication that put their disease into remission.”

{{Case summaries}}

In their JCI Insight paper, the researchers also offer detailed case summaries involving four histiocytosis patients between the ages of 9 months and 36 years.

In one case a 22-month-old child was referred to Cincinnati Children’s for treatment-resistant LCH that was complicated by a secondary diagnosis of HLH (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis). HLH is a difficult-to-treat and often-fatal autoimmune disorder in which an overheated immune system causes uncontrolled inflammation and organ damage. The little girl, whose condition was worsening with organ failure, had a mutation in the BRAF gene.

Two days after starting targeted treatment with oral dabrafenib (which blocks the MAP-kinase pathway) the little girl’s fever disappeared and a week later her organ function returned to normal, according to study authors.

{{Previous studies, future directions
}}

For their JCI Insight research project, in addition to their own laboratory tests, study authors drew from data in previous research papers by a number of institutions, which examined genetic and molecular processes affecting white blood cell expansion in different types of histiocytosis.

As Kumar and his colleagues continue their research, they plan to test methodologies that could expand the use of genomic profiling of patient biopsies and targeted molecular therapies in more patients with recurrent, treatment-resistant disease.

“It’s important for physicians and patients to know that LCH and other forms of histiocytosis are not that mysterious anymore,” Kumar said. “We now have new treatments that dramatically improve outcomes for these patients.”

Source:Science Daily

A phase III trial of a fasting-like diet shows the greatest benefit for ‘at-risk’ patients

What if you could lose weight and reduce your risk of life-threatening disease without any changes in what you eat — other than a five-day special diet once every few months?

That’s what happened for 71 adults who were placed on three cycles of a low-calorie, “fasting-mimicking” diet. The phase II trial, conducted by researchers at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, demonstrated a host of benefits from the regimen.

The diet reduced cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure, signs of inflammation (measured by C-reactive protein levels), as well as fasting glucose and reduced levels of IGF-1, a hormone that affects metabolism. It also shrank waistlines and resulted in weight loss, both in total body fat and trunk fat, but not in muscle mass.

In effect, the diet reduced the study participants’ risks for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other age-related diseases, according to the findings published Feb. 15 in Science Translational Medicine.

“This study provides evidence that people can experience significant health benefits through a periodic, fasting-mimicking diet that is designed to act on the aging process,” said Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute and a professor of biological sciences for USC Davis and Dornsife. “Prior studies have indicated a range of health benefits in mice, but this is the first randomized clinical trial with enough participants to demonstrate that the diet is feasible, effective and safe for humans.

“Larger FDA studies are necessary to confirm its effects on disease prevention and treatment,” he added.

One hundred people participated in the trial from April 2013 to July 2015. The participants, ages 20 to 70 and all generally healthy, were divided into two groups for the randomized trial.

Participants in the first group, the control group, were asked to continue their normal eating habits for three months. People in the second group were placed on a three-month test of the fasting-mimicking diet.

Those on the special diet were required to eat food products supplied by the nutrition company L-Nutra during the fasting periods of five days each month. The diet, which was designed to mimic the results of a water-only fast, allowed for participants to consume between 750 and 1,100 calories per day. The meals for the fast-mimicking diet contained precise proportions of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

After three months, participants in the control group were moved onto the special diet.

The researchers found that participants on the fasting-mimicking diet lost an average of about 6 pounds. Their waistlines shrank by 1 to 2 inches. Their systolic blood pressure, which was in the normal range when the study began, dropped by 4.5 mmHG, while their diastolic blood pressure dropped by 3.1 mmHg. Also, their levels of IGF-1 dropped to between 21.7 ng/mL and 46.2 ng/mL, reaching a range associated with lower cancer risk.

“After the first group completed their three months on the fasting diet, we moved over participants in the control group to see if they also would experience similar results,” Longo said. “We saw similar outcomes, which provides further evidence that a fasting-mimicking diet has effects on many metabolic and disease markers. Our mouse studies using a similar fasting-mimicking diet indicate that these beneficial effects are caused by multi-system regeneration and rejuvenation in the body at the cellular and organ levels.

“Our participants retained those effects, even when they returned to their normal daily eating habits,” he added.

The researchers also noted that participants considered “at risk” because they had risk factors such as high IGF-1, cholesterol, blood pressure or blood sugar levels, made significant progress toward better health.

For example, baseline fasting glucose levels for participants with high blood sugar levels (putting them at risk for diabetes) dropped into the healthy range, below 99 mg/dl — but these levels didn’t drop among participants who already had healthy levels at the beginning of the study. Cholesterol was reduced by 20 mg/dl in those with high cholesterol levels, and by about 5 mg/dl in all participants.

“Fasting seems to be the most beneficial for patients who have the great risk factors for disease, such as those who have high blood pressure or pre-diabetes or who are obese,” Longo said.

The researchers had invited participants in the study for one last set of tests three months later, at the end of the diet. The research team found that the beneficial effects — from weight loss, smaller waistlines and lower glucose, blood pressure and IGF-1 levels — were sustained.

The next step for researchers is a large, FDA phase III clinical trial to test the FMD on patients diagnosed with age-related diseases or at high risk for them. The researchers said further investigation will determine whether the benefits of the diet can continue for several months.

Source:Science Daily

{Researchers achieve protection of up to 100 percent using fully viable malaria parasites.}

University of Tübingen researchers in collaboration with the biotech company Sanaria Inc. have demonstrated in a clinical trial that a new vaccine for malaria called Sanaria® PfSPZ-CVac has been up to 100 percent effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose of vaccine. For the trial, Pro-fessor Peter Kremsner and Dr. Benjamin Mordmüller of the Institute of Tropical Medicine and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) used malaria parasites provided by Sanaria. The vac-cine incorporated fully viable — not weakened or otherwise inactivated — malaria pathogens together with the medication to combat them. Their research results have been published in the latest edition of Nature.

Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite is responsible for most malaria infections and almost all deaths caused by the disease worldwide. Most of the previous vaccines which have been tried involved the use of individual molecules found in the pathogen. However, they were unable to provide sufficient immunity to the disease. The Tuebingen study involved 67 healthy adult test persons, none of whom had previously had malaria. The best immune response was shown in a group of nine test persons who received the highest dose of the vaccine three times at four-week intervals. At the end of the trial, all nine of these individuals had 100 percent protection from the disease.

“That protection was probably caused by specific T-lymphocytes and antibody responses to the parasites in the liver,” Professor Peter Kremsner explained. The researchers analyzed the bodies’ immune reactions and identified protein patterns which will make it possible to further improve malaria vaccines, Kremsner added. The researchers injected live malaria parasites into the test subjects, at the same time preventing the development of the disease by adding chloroquine — which has been used to treat malaria for many years. This enabled the researchers to exploit the behavior of the parasites and the properties of chloroquine.

Once the person is infected, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite migrates to the liver to reproduce. During its incubation period there, the human immune system could respond; but at this stage, the pathogen does not make the person sick. On top of that, chloroquine does not take effect in the liver — so it is unable to prevent the parasite from reproducing. Malaria only breaks out when the pathogen leaves the liver, entering the bloodstream and going into the red corpuscles, where it continues to reproduce and spread. As soon as the pathogen enters the bloodstream, however, it can be killed by chloroquine — and the disease cannot break out.

“By vaccinating with a live, fully active pathogen, it seems clear that we were able to set of a very strong immune response,” said study leader Benjamin Mordmueller, “Additionally, all the data we have so far indicate that what we have here is relatively stable, long-lasting protection.” In the group of test persons who demonstrated 100 percent protection after receiving a high dose three times, Mordmueller said, the protection was reliably still in place after ten weeks — and remained measurable for even longer. He added that the new vaccine showed no adverse effects on the test persons. The next step is to further test the vaccine’s effectiveness over several years in a clinical study in Gabon funded by DZIF. Malaria is one of the biggest health threats in the African nation. The University of Tuebingen has worked with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Gabonese town of Lambaréné and with the neighboring research institute, the Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, for many years.

Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization reports that some 214 million people became infected with malaria in the year 2015 alone. Approximately 438,000 died of the disease. Around 90 percent of those malaria deaths were in Africa. Nearly three-quarters of those who succumb to the disease are children under five. The search for a vaccine has been going on for more than a century. An effective vaccine would make it easier to control malaria; vaccination campaigns could be conducted in severely affected areas to eliminate the pathogen. Such a vaccine could also help to stop the spread of resistance to the treatment, and to better protect travelers.

Source:Science Daily

{Study shows effectiveness of radiosurgery in controlling spread of brain cancer after surgery.}

Tumors that originate in other organs of the body and spread to the brain are known as metastatic brain tumors. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, this type of tumor is the most common in adults, affecting as many as 300,000 people each year. University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers compared two common postsurgical therapies for metastatic brain tumors and found that stereotactic radiosurgery can provide better outcomes for patients compared to whole-brain radiation.

During whole-brain radiation therapy, beams of radiation cover the entire brain. Because it treats the whole brain, the therapy is thought to control the spread of tumors by treating both identifiable and hidden cancerous cells. However, whole-brain radiation has been associated with a decline in cognitive functions that can negatively affect a patient’s quality of life.

In stereotactic radiosurgery, radiation is delivered to more precise areas of the brain. Because it is a targeted therapy, less collateral damage occurs to healthy brain tissue. As a result, patients experience less cognitive decline when compared to whole-brain radiation, and experience a higher quality of life.

“Although radiosurgery has been shown to be an effective post-surgical treatment for metastatic brain tumors, previous studies did not compare patient outcomes from a single hospital over the same period of time,” said N. Scott Litofsky, M.D., chief of the Division of Neurological Surgery at the MU School of Medicine and senior author of the study. “Our study is one of the first to directly compare outcomes of patients treated at the same hospital during a set period of time. Ultimately, our findings reinforce the use of radiosurgery over whole-brain radiation.”

Under Litofsky’s mentorship, Kristen Scheitler-Ring, a medical student doing a pathology fellowship at the MU School of Medicine, studied the outcomes of patients treated at MU Health Care from 2010 to 2014. After undergoing brain surgery to remove a metastatic tumor, 46 patients received whole-brain radiation, while 37 patients received radiosurgery. The researchers found that radiosurgery controlled the spread of the cancerous cells as effectively as whole-brain radiation; patients who received radiosurgery experienced less cognitive decline compared to those who received whole-brain radiation. Additionally, the median survival rate for patients who received radiosurgery was 440 days, compared to 202 days for patients who received whole-brain radiation.

“For patients with metastatic cancer of the brain, the importance of surviving for a longer period of time cannot be overstated,” Litofsky said. “In our practice, we now treat patients almost exclusively with radiosurgery following their surgery. Although this therapy does cost more, results often can be achieved in one to three visits compared to 10 to 12 visits for whole-brain radiation. With these considerations, we strongly suggest physicians consider radiosurgery as an initial radiation treatment after surgery.”

Source:Science Daily

{Researchers have projected that aggressively lowering blood pressure could help prevent more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.}

“The public health impact of adopting intensive treatment in the right patients is enormous,” says Adam Bress, University of Utah assistant professor of population health sciences.

Bress and his fellow experts from institutions across the country built upon the landmark Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), which found that decreasing blood pressure to less than 120 mmHg compared to 140 mmHg reduced heart attack, stroke and death in people that were at high risk. But — until now — the potential number of lives that could be saved if SPRINT-based intensive treatment were fully implemented among eligible U.S. adults was unknown.

The University of Utah-led team of researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2006 conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Using the science of survey design, they focused on about 2,000 men and women who met the SPRINT eligibility criteria to determine the projected 107,500 lives saved each year.

The leading cause of death in the U.S. is heart disease. In past decades, doctors had typically worked to keep patients’ blood pressure less than 140 mmHg. SPRINT concluded that there could be a 27 percent reduction in mortality through the intensive blood pressure regimen.

“The lifetime risk of high blood pressure in the US is about 80 percent,” says the study’s senior author Richard Cooper, professor and chairman of Public Health Sciences at Loyola University Medical School, who collaborated with Bress. “Optimal management is one of the most significant contributions of medical care to patient survival. So we need to understand that small improvements in individual management can make a major impact on people’s health.”

To achieve blood pressure of 120 mmHg or less, it’s likely people would need to take three or four medications instead of two recommended for the higher blood pressure goal, the assistant professor said. They would likely also see the health care provider more frequently and need more lab tests. Though this would require some additional spending in the short-term, the overall cost of high blood pressure in the U.S. is large.

“Currently about 80 million Americans have higher blood pressure: one out of three,” Bress says. “And the treatment cost of hypertension is about $80 billion a year.”

The medications doctors would need are already available, safe, effective, and inexpensive, he added. In some individuals they cause side effects such as fatigue, cough and lower leg swelling.

Bress is the lead author of “Potential Deaths Averted and Serious Adverse Events from the adoption of the SPRINT Intensive Blood Pressure Regiment in the U.S.” which publishes online on Feb. 13 in the journal, Circulation.

He acknowledges that some concerns remain about dropping blood pressure so dramatically. Their analysis also showed that additional blood pressure medications increase risk for low blood pressure, fainting, and acute kidney injury. Currently, scientists are investigating whether the treatment impacts cognition.

“The point we’re trying to make when it comes to choices around intensive treatment is: Do the benefits of reducing your risk of stroke or early death outweigh the risks?” said Bress.

Cooper believes the treatment goal for systolic blood pressure should be reset to at least 130. Practical trials should be created to help monitor blood pressure at home and find systems — such as electronic recording — that make it easier for doctors to meet that target, he said.

Additional research is underway to determine who may best benefit from SPRINT protocol — whether that is someone who is of a certain age group, or someone that does not have diabetes or other conditions.

Bress and the researchers analyzed data from individuals who met SPRINT eligibility: they were of age 50 or older, at high risk of cardiovascular disease and without a history of diabetes or stroke.

How to implement the reduced blood pressure protocol also remains a question mark, Bress said. But he doesn’t think there should be a delay.

“What I fear is that if it takes 10 years to implement, we would not fully realize the potential public health gains. Within that time we could greatly reduce the number of deaths from high blood pressure.”

Source:Science Daily