The paper deals with the study of specific features of ocular adaptive reactions under the conditions of the Far North. The author suggests that there should be 3 types of ocular adaptation in the North: (1) and (2) being at the individual level and (3) at the population level. Type 1 adaptation is usually observed within the first months of stay in the North. The ocular status of newcomers is characterized by lower hydrodynamic parameters: a tendency to intraocular vascular dystonia (the hypertensive type) is formed. Type 2 adaptation is generally seen after spending 10 years of stay in the North. Persistent physiological vascular reactions are formed (within the upper normal range). Organic disadaptive changes in microvasculature develop in a third of the new residents in the North. Type 3 hereditary long-term adaptation is observed in the indigenous residents of the North. The most optimum ratios of hemo- and hydrodynamic parameters along with definite changes in anatomic and functional indices form in them, which is reflected in the specific features of eye diseases.
Apnea hypopnea index (AHI) is used to study the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and hypertension, but the independent contributions of total sleep time (TST) and apnea/hypopnea event count to hypertension have not been previously investigated. We studied the relationship between polysomnographically assessed TST and hypertension in a sex-balanced community-dwelling cohort of hypertensive patients and normotensive controls (Skara Sleep Cohort).
Participants (n = 344, men 173, age 61.2 ± 6.5 years, BMI 28.6 ± 4.8 kg/m, mean ± SD) underwent ambulatory home polysomnography. Hypertension was defined according to contemporary Swedish national guidelines. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to predict hypertension status from TST and apnea/hypopnea count (total events/night) adjusting for sex, age and BMI.
OSA was highly prevalent in this population (AHI 26 ± 4 events/h). Hypertensive patients had shorter TST than normotensive patients (353 ± 81 vs. 389 ± 65 min, P
OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between indicators at birth and adult blood pressure and risk for developing hypertension at two age levels. DESIGN: Original midwife records of 438 women born at term participating in a prospective population study in Göteborg, Sweden with blood pressure and hypertension assessment at both 50 and 60 years of age. RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure at both age levels showed a U-shaped relationship to weight and length at birth. Hypertension prevalence at 60 years was significantly and inversely related to both weight and length at birth, but not at 50 years. Significantly higher risk for hypertension was found in the lowest birth weight quintile [odds ratio (OR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-3.8] and lowest birth length tertile (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.0), in relation to the middle quintile/tertile, with or without adjustment for adult body size (as body mass index), at 60 years but not at 50 years. At 50 years, hypertension risk decreased by 3% (95% CI 0.92-1.01) for every 100 g increase in birth weight and 6% (95% CI 0.83-1.05) per cm birth length. At age 60 years, hypertension risk decreased by 4% (95% CI 0.92-0.99) per 100 g birth weight and 10% (95% CI 0.81-0.99) per cm length. CONCLUSIONS: Size at birth was a predictor of hypertension risk in women at 60 years but not 50 years. This study supports the hypothesis that poor fetal growth, as measured by low weight or length at birth, may contribute to the development of hypertension in later life and that this relationship became stronger with age.
[Cerebral hemisphere blood volume, venous filling and emptying in patients with arterial hypertension who have suffered from Chernobyl accident depending on sex and age]
Reliable differences in cerebral hemisphere blood vessels filling and tonus of microcirculation system have been found between men and women of different ages with arterial hypertension, who have suffered from Chernobyl accident with the help of tetrapolar impedance plethysmography method (rheoanalysator PAS-01). Cerebral hemisphere blood vessels filling in women of all ages has been shown to be higher for sure than in men and the tonus of pre- and postcapillaries under developing arterial hypertension gets lower with age.
Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Centre, 687 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Canada. kaberi.dasgupta@mcgill.ca
Higher walking levels lead to lower mortality in type 2 diabetes, but inclement weather may reduce walking. In this patient population, we conducted a longitudinal cohort study to objectively quantify seasonal variations both in walking and in two vascular risk factors associated with activity levels, hemoglobin A1C and blood pressure.
Between June 2006 and July 2009, volunteer type 2 diabetes patients in Montreal, Quebec, Canada underwent two weeks of pedometer measurement up to four times over a one year follow-up period (i.e. once/season). Pedometer viewing windows were concealed (snap-on cover and tamper proof seal). A1C, blood pressure, and anthropometric parameters were also assessed. Given similarities in measures for spring/summer and fall/winter, and because not all participants completed four assessments, spring and summer values were collapsed as were fall and winter values. Mean within-individual differences (95% confidence intervals) were computed for daily steps, A1C, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, by subtracting spring/summer values from fall/winter values.
Among 201 participants, 166 (82.6%) underwent at least one fall/winter and one spring/summer evaluation. Approximately half were women, the mean age was 62.4 years (SD 10.8), and the mean BMI was 30.1 kg/m2 (SD 5.7). Step counts averaged at a sedentary level in fall/winter (mean 4,901 steps/day, SD 2,464) and at a low active level in spring/summer (mean 5,659 steps/day, SD 2,611). There was a -758 (95% CI: -1,037 to -479) mean fall/winter to spring/summer within-individual difference. There were no significant differences in A1C or in anthropometric parameters. Systolic blood pressure was higher in fall/winter (mean 137 mm Hg, SD 16) than spring/summer (133 mm Hg, SD 14) with a mean difference of 4.0 mm Hg (95% CI: 2.3 to 5.7).
Daily step counts in type 2 diabetes patients are low, dipping lower during fall/winter. In this medication-treated cohort, A1C was stable year-round but a fall/winter systolic blood pressure increase was detected. Our findings signal a need to develop strategies to help patients increase step counts year-round and prevent both reductions in step counts and increases in blood pressure during the fall and winter.
Alcoholic illness is one of main problems of modern therapy. The level of alcoholisation in Russia is one of the highest in the world. During last decades steady growth of number of alcohol abuser women has been noted. In this review we give basic data on prevalence of alcoholic involvement of internal organs in women, on its pathogenesis, main clinical manifestations, and methods of diagnosis.
It has been shown that coherent and non-coherent laser emission oriented on rabbit eye affects vascular and cardiac components of haemodynamics while not shifting significantly the level of dynamic pressure. It is demonstrated that haemodynamic reactions are different upon long-term exposure of coherent and non-coherent laser emission.
The effect of intravenously-administered labetalol (1 mg/kg) on uterine and fetal hemodynamics and fetal cardiac function was studied in 13 women with pregnancy-induced hypertension. Maternal mean blood pressure had decreased significantly by the end of the labetalol infusion and 30 min later. The pulsatility indices reflecting peripheral vascular resistance did not change in the main uterine, placental arcuate, umbilical, and fetal middle cerebral and renal arteries, nor did the parameters reflecting fetal cardiac function. A subgroup of seven patients with a more pronounced decrease in maternal blood pressure and three cases with original signs of fetal asphyxia did not react hemodynamically in a different manner from the group as a whole with respect to the circulatory effects of labetalol. These findings obtained by Doppler and colour Doppler methods in as comprehensive manner as possible seem to demonstrate a wide tolerance of maternal and fetal hemodynamics to the moderate decrease in maternal blood pressure achieved by labetalol infusion under short-term conditions in cases of pregnancy-induced hypertension.
The purpose of this investigation was to study exercise-induced hypertension after surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Groups of 27 patients with CoA and 27 healthy control subjects, 6-21 years old, were exercised to exhaustion using the Bruce protocol. Fourteen patients had undergone surgery during the first year of life (group A), and 13 patients had been operated on later (group B). The pulse rate and systolic blood pressures (BP) in the arm and leg were measured before, during, and after exercise to evaluate changes in the BP and the arm/leg BP gradient with exercise. The systolic BP was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls at all stages of the exercise test (p
