PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Stopping antihypertensive therapy in older patients did not improve functioning

2015-08-24
(Press-News.org) Discontinuing antihypertensive therapy for patients 75 or older with mild cognitive deficits did not improve short-term cognitive, psychological or general daily functioning, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Midlife high blood pressure is a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. However, the effect of late-life blood pressure on cognition is less clear. Some studies have suggested that late in life, it is lower, rather than higher blood pressure, that increases the risk for cognitive decline.

Justine E. F. Moonen, M.D., of Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands, and coauthors conducted a community-based randomized clinical trial with a 16-week follow-up at 128 general medical practices. The study enrolled 385 participants 75 or older with mild cognitive deficits and without serious cardiovascular disease who received antihypertensive treatment. Participants were nearly equally divided into two groups: discontinuation of antihypertensive therapy (n=199) vs. continuation of antihypertensive therapy (n=186).

The authors examined changes in an overall cognition compound score, as well as changes in scores on cognitive domains, depression, apathy, functional status and quality of life.

The intervention group where antihypertensive therapy was discontinued did not differ from the control group where antihypertensive therapy was continued in overall cognition compound score. The two groups also did not differ in terms of changes for three cognitive domains (executive function, memory and psychomotor speed), symptoms of apathy and depression, functional status and quality of life.

The authors suggest several reasons may explain the lack of effect of the intervention, including their selection of older patients without serious cardiovascular disease.

"Future randomized clinical trials with longer follow-up should determine whether older persons with impaired cerebral autoregulation might benefit from less stringent BP [blood pressure] targets," the study concludes.

INFORMATION:

(JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 24, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.4103. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor's Note: This study was supported by a grant from Program Priority Medicines for the Elderly, the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Commentary: A Discontinuation Trial of Antihypertensive Treatment

In a related commentary, Michelle C. Odden, Ph.D., of Oregon State University, Corvallis, writes: "We have made great strides in building the evidence base for initiating and intensifying antihypertensive therapy, but we have neglected to study the effects of continuing and discontinuing therapy in older adults. This study is the first step forward in answering these important scientific questions." (JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 24, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.4309. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor's Note: This work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Media Advisory: To contact corresponding author Justine E.F. Moonen, M.D., email j.e.f.moonen@lumc.nl. To contact corresponding commentary author Michelle C. Odden, Ph.D., call Michelle Klampe at 541-737-0784 or email Michelle.klampe@oregonstate.edu.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Association between transient newborn hypoglycemia, 4th grade achievement

2015-08-24
A study matching newborn glucose concentration screening results with fourth-grade achievement test scores suggests that early transient newborn hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) was associated with lower test scores at age 10, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics. At birth, the continuous utero-placental-umbilical infusion of glucose ends and reaches the lowest values during the first couple of hours. The newborn brain principally uses glucose for energy and prolonged hypoglycemia has been associated with poor long-term neurodevelopment and neurocognition. ...

A little light interaction leaves quantum physicists beaming

A little light interaction leaves quantum physicists beaming
2015-08-24
TORONTO, ON - A team of physicists at the University of Toronto (U of T) have taken a step toward making the essential building block of quantum computers out of pure light. Their advance, described in a paper published this week in Nature Physics, has to do with a specific part of computer circuitry known as a "logic gate." Logic gates perform operations on input data to create new outputs. In classical computers, logic gates take the form of diodes or transistors. But quantum computer components are made from individual atoms and subatomic particles. Information processing ...

Scientists show how exposure to brief trauma and sudden sounds form lasting memories

2015-08-24
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found how even brief exposure to sudden sounds or mild trauma can form permanent, long-term brain connections, or memories, in a specific region of the brain. Moreover, the research team, working with rats, says it was able to chemically stimulate those biological pathways in the locus coeruleus -- the area of the brain best known for releasing the "fight or flight" hormone noradrenaline -- to heighten and improve the animals' hearing. The NYU team says their new study, summarized in the cover article in the journal Nature ...

Record high pressure squeezes secrets out of osmium

Record high pressure squeezes secrets out of osmium
2015-08-24
This news release is available in German. An international team of scientists led by the University of Bayreuth and with participation of DESY has created the highest static pressure ever achieved in a lab: Using a special high pressure device, the researchers investigated the behaviour of the metal osmium at pressures of up to 770 Gigapascals (GPa) - more than twice the pressure in the inner core of the Earth, and about 130 Gigapascals higher than the previous world record set by members of the same team. Surprisingly, osmium does not change its crystal structure ...

Giving pharmacists the power to combat opioid overdoses

2015-08-24
BOSTON -- In response to the growing opioid crisis, several states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have granted pharmacists the authority to provide naloxone rescue kits without a prescription to at-risk patients. This model of pharmacy-based naloxone (PBN) education and distribution is one of the public health strategies currently being evaluated at hundreds of pharmacies in both states to determine the impact on opioid overdose death rates. Led by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC), Rhode Island Hospital, and the University of Rhode Island College ...

Researchers tackle issues surrounding security tools for software developers

2015-08-24
For software programmers, security tools are analytic software that can scan or run their code to expose vulnerabilities long before the software goes to market. But these tools can have shortcomings, and programmers don't always use them. New research from National Science Foundation-funded computer science researcher Emerson Murphy-Hill and his colleagues tackles three different aspects of the issue. "Our work is focused on understanding the developers who are trying to identify security vulnerabilities in their code, and how they use (or don't use) tools that can help ...

Men, people over 65 sleep better when they have access to nature

2015-08-24
URBANA, Ill. - Men and persons age 65 and older who have access to natural surroundings, whether it's the green space of a nearby park or a sandy beach and an ocean view, report sleeping better, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Preventive Medicine. "It's hard to overestimate the importance of high-quality sleep," said Diana Grigsby-Toussaint, a U of I professor of kinesiology and community health and a faculty member in the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences. "Studies show that inadequate sleep is associated with declines in mental ...

Study backs flu vaccinations for elderly

2015-08-24
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new study of the records of millions of nursing home residents affirms the value of influenza vaccination among the elderly. The Brown University analysis found that between 2000 and 2009, the better matched the vaccine was for the influenza strain going around, the fewer nursing home residents died or were hospitalized. Although flu vaccination is a standard of care and a measure of quality in nursing homes, some public health experts question the evidence of whether they do any good, said Vincent Mor, corresponding author of ...

GPM sees rainfall in Tropical Depression Kilo nearing Johnston Island

GPM sees rainfall in Tropical Depression Kilo nearing Johnston Island
2015-08-24
The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM mission core satellite gathered rainfall data on Tropical Depression Kilo as it heads toward Johnston Island in the Central Pacific Ocean. On August 24, a Tropical Storm Warning was posted for Johnston Island Kilo formed as depression and strengthened into a tropical storm to southeast of the Hawaiian Islands on August 20, 2015. By 5 a.m. EDT on Sunday, August 23, Kilo weakened to a tropical depression. Today, August 24, the tropical depression nearing Johnston Island. The National Hurricane Center noted that Johnston Island ...

Brains of abused teenagers show 'encouraging' ability to regulate emotions

2015-08-24
Washington D.C., August 24, 2015 - Children who have been abused typically experience more intense emotions than their peers who have not been abused. This is often considered a byproduct of living in volatile, dangerous environments. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) set to find out what happens when these children are taught how to regulate their emotions. Could that better help them cope with difficult situations? The team of researchers from the University of Washington studied what happens ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

Satellite observations provide insight into post-wildfire forest recovery

[Press-News.org] Stopping antihypertensive therapy in older patients did not improve functioning