Hypertension treatment 'may be aided by stress analysis'

Individuals with "out of control" blood pressure may find their treatment aided through the examination of their body's response to daily stresses.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have announced that they will be testing just such a theory in order to identify the mechanisms responsible for such reactions.

The collection of human and animal studies - launched by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute - will focus on the effects of sodium excretion, obesity, reactive oxygen species, socioeconomic status and diabetes on blood pressure and stress.

Dr Gregory Harshfield, director of the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Georgia, said: "Research shows that two-thirds of patients' high blood pressure is not controlled despite the best efforts of their doctors. That is terrible."

In related news that may be of interest to anti-aging physicians, new research published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons has suggested that high-risk patients can achieve positive outcomes from undergoing carotid endarterectomy, Eurekalert notes.