Blood Pressure Archive

Telemedicine visits combined with self-measured blood pressure readings may help control high blood pressure better than traditional clinic visits, according to a 2024 study.

About a third of healthy people-and about 60% of people with high blood pressure-are salt sensitive, meaning they have an exaggerated response to dietary sodium. But an estimated one in 10 people may have inverse salt sensitivity: their blood pressure goes up when they eat less salt. Understanding the genetic basis of these differences may one day improve the treatment of blood pressure.

People whose spouses have high blood pressure may be more likely to have high blood pressure themselves than people whose spouses do not have the condition, according to a 2023 study.

A 2023 study found that people who said they ate the most tomatoes (more than 110 grams per day, for three years) experienced a 36% reduction in hypertension, compared with people who said they ate the least tomatoes per day (less than 44 grams).

Beta blockers can slow one's heart rate, which can make gauging intensity during exercise difficult. Monitoring your breathing is a good way to ensure you work out at an intensity that is sufficient and not too high.

Orthostatic hypotension, a condition that causes blood pressure to drop when a person stands up, can leave people dizzy and lightheaded. It can result from certain medications or health problems and becomes more common with age and frailty. Doctors sometimes worry that intensive blood pressure treatment contributes to the problem, but research suggests the opposite is true. Strategies to cope with symptoms of orthostatic hypotension include drinking plenty of fluids, wearing compression stockings, and taking care when rising from a chair or bed.

A significant reduction in salt intake may directly lower blood pressure in even more people than previously believed.

When participants in a 2023 study ate a low-sodium diet for one week, the vast majority experienced an average 8-point drop in their systolic blood pressure compared to when they ate a high-salt diet for one week.