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Small measures can turn high blood pressure around, and reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure, finds a new study that examined efforts to boost patients' awareness of current and target blood pressure.

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (MedPage Today) -- Small, focused, and inexpensive interventions involving patients, physicians, and nurses significantly improved hypertension control in a large Veterans Administration study.

Spikes in blood sugar after a meal can cut a man's testosterone level by 25 percent, a new study has found.

Mayo Clinic cardiology researchers have found a peptide that helps preserve and improve kidney function during heart failure, without affecting blood pressure. Earlier variations of this peptide caused blood pressure to drop limiting the potential benefits to the kidneys. The findings appear in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A marker in the blood of both cats and humans that was identified in a recent study might signal both species' susceptibility for a painful bladder disorder called interstitial cystitis, a condition that is often difficult to diagnose.

IntroductionWe have shown previously that treatment with pegylated leptin peptide receptor antagonist 2 (PEG-LPrA2) reduced the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor type 2 (VEGFR2) and growth of 4T1-breast cancer (BC) in syngeneic mice. In this investigation, PEG-LPrA2 was used to evaluate whether the inhibition of leptin signaling has differential impact on the expression of pro-angiogenic and pro-proliferative molecules and growth of human estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and negative (ER-) BC xenografts hosted by immunodeficient mice. Methods: To test the contribution of leptin signaling to BC growth and expression of leptin-targeted molecules, PEG-LPrA2 treatment was applied to severe immunodeficient mice hosting established ER+ (MCF-7 cells; ovariectomized/supplemented with E2) and ER- BC xenografts (MDA-MB231 cells). To further assess leptin and PEG-LPrA2 effects on ER+ and ER- BC the expression of VEGF and VEGFR2 (p

A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered. There is currently no accepted blood test for Alzheimer's, and the diagnosis is usually based on expensive and labor-intensive neurological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging evaluations.

(University of North Carolina School of Medicine) A team of UNC researchers has proven that a key protein called p16INK4a is present in human blood and is strongly correlated both with chronological age and with certain behaviors such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, which are known to accelerate the aging process.

(McGill University) A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH). Their results were published June 8 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. There is currently no accepted blood test for Alzheimer's, and the diagnosis is usually based on expensive and labor-intensive neurological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging evaluations.

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in processed foods contain trans fatty acids that interfere with the regulation of blood flow. A new report reveals a new way in which these 'trans fats' gum up the cellular machinery that keeps blood moving through arteries and veins.