Active clinical trials for "Prehypertension"

The purpose of the study is to understand the origins of differential response to beta-blockers in African-Americans and may provide insight regarding racial differences in cardiovascular risk.

The investigators are conducting an unblinded pilot randomized control trial of 250 persons living with HIV (PLWH), aged 18-65 years, who receive antiretroviral therapy care at Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO), are virally suppressed, and have pre-hypertension (systolic blood pressure (SBP) 120-139 or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 80-89 mmHg) to be randomized to early hypertension (HTN) treatment versus standard of care (SOC). Participants will be recruited from GHESKIO's HIV clinic. Eligible individuals will complete informed consent and be randomized to early HTN treatment vs. SOC. Participants in early HTN treatment will initiate amlodipine immediately versus those in SOC will initiate amlodipine only if they meet the HTN threshold (SBP ≥140 or DBP ≥90 mmHg) during the study period. All participants will be followed for 12 months.

Over 30% of American adults have hypertension (HTN) (high blood pressure), and the rate increases considerably with age; 64% of men and 78% of women over 65 have HTN. High blood pressure associated with HTN can force of the blood against artery walls with enough pressure that it can eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease and stroke. HTN is one of the most significant causes of early death worldwide and one of the most preventable causes of death. Many studies reveal that lowering blood pressure (BP) reduces the incidence of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Non-drug related treatments are known to reduce BP which can have a great effect on public health. Research suggests that Tai Chi (TC) is effective in lowering BP in patients with HTN, but because of the low quality of existing studies there is no definite proof. Also, it is not known how TC reduces BP. One possibility is that TC practice, which is shown to reduce psychological distress such as anxiety and depression and reduce the body's responses to stress, can improve the balance of the autonomic nervous system (the part of your nervous system that controls beating of the heart and the widening or narrowing of blood vessels). This may lead to lower BP. The investigators plan to investigate the pathways among autonomic, blood vessel, immune and psychological factors in relation to BP changes in response to 12-weeks of TC compared with Healthy Aging Practice-centered Education (HAP-E). 250 older adults (60+ years old) with mild HTN will be enrolled, and the investigators will take several measurements of heart and nervous system functioning. The investigators hypothesize that performing TC for 12 weeks will result in autonomic "re-regulation" which will improve BP and blood vessel health (Aim 1) and sympathetic nervous system (part of the nervous system that serves to speed up heart rate, contract blood vessels, and raise blood pressure) regulation of the immune system (Aim 2). Lastly, the investigators hypothesize that psychological factors will be related to TC effects on autonomic regulation (Aim 3). Findings from the investigators study will hopefully shed light on the pathways by which TC reduces BP. Also, the particular effects of TC ("meditative movement") in an older, "hard-to-treat" hypertensive population will be better understood.

This is an ongoing, prospective cohort study of children and young adults who are evaluated in the Reversing the Negative Effects of Weight on the Heart (ReNEW) Clinic at Johns Hopkins University. Demographic and clinical data of patients who agree to participate are obtained via chart review and entered into a longitudinal clinic registry.

Hypertension has been a serious problem among people from different ages in the last few decades, so by taking this in consideration we decided to search for specific risk factors that cause hypertension in young healthy adults, and to achieve that we are looking for pre-hypertension, obesity, and sedentary lifestyle among this group by using different scale tools and questionnaires.

Individuals with prehypertension, diagnosed according to the 7th Brazilian Guidelines on Hypertension with the presence of systolic blood pressure (SBP) between 121 and 139 and / or diastolic (DBP) between 81 and 89 mmHg, are more likely to become hypertensive and to develop cardiovascular complications. Moreover, they already have alterations in the function of large arteries that may play a role in the development of the disease in the future. An option in the prevention / treatment of hypertension is the moderate intensity physical training, but high intensity interval training offers the possibility of greater exercise adherence, since it can be performed with less volume and less time spent, with the same benefits than moderate exercise, or even higher, being preferred by the population. Among these benefits, the investigators can mention the post-exercise hypotension (PEH) which occurs in normotensive, prehypertensive, and hypertensive individuals, due the decreased in sympathetic nerve activity and improved in vascular function. Also, selected participants with prehypertension can present a profile of masked hypertension, identified only by 24 hours ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Given the possible differences between vascular responses to exercise intensities, the investigators intend to compare, in prehypertensive patients, the vascular responses of large arteries by noninvasive methods and PEH to a session of high intensity exercise and a session of moderate intensity continuous exercise. In addition, to study some of the possible physiological variables involved in this response by measuring heart rate variability. It is expected to find differences in vascular responses according to the presence of masked hypertension. Twenty two prehypertensive individuals aged between 30 and 60 years of both sexes will be studied. Subjects will perform cardiopulmonary testing and baseline vascular measurements (central pressure and pulse wave velocity measurements by three different methods), as well as 24 -hour ABPM. The vascular measurements will be repeated immediately after, and 24 hours after each session. Each participant will perform the session of one type of exercise in one day, and after three days will perform the other, with random distribution to the sequence of exercise type. Participants will perform 24-hour ABPM prior to exercise and for 24 hours after each exercise session. Data will be compared by appropriate statistical analysis.

The purpose of the study is to test the effects of blocking sympathetic nerve activity with a drug called clonidine on blood vessel function and muscle nerve activity in adults who are obese and have high blood pressure. The cohort of subjects will consist of 69 healthy young men and women age 18-79 years who are obese, defined as a body mass index > or = to 30 kg/m2, who have untreated systolic hypertension (systolic blood pressure > or = to 130 - <180 mmHg- average of at least 3 measurements 2 min apart after 10 min seated resting position). These 69 subjects will then be randomized to 3 treatment arms: clonidine (0.1 mg/day), hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg/day) or placebo for 4 weeks in years 1 and 2. All tablets will be encapsulated by to look identical. Subjects will randomly (1:1:1) receive one of the following combinations in a double-blind, placebo-controlled design: Oral clonidine (0.1 mg twice/day) Oral hydrochlorothiazide (12.5 mg twice/day) Oral placebo I

This randomized, double-blind, parallel group, two-centre pilot study will test the hypothesis that subjects who are otherwise healthy but fulfill the criteria for a diagnosis of pre-hypertension and pre-diabetes will have regression or reduced progression of hypertension-associated changes in their resistance arteries if their blood pressure is controlled for 6 months with losartan, whereas similar subjects whose blood pressure is equally well controlled using hydrochlorothiazide will have significantly less improvement of the changes in their resistance arteries.

The prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension in the elderly is very high. Apart from medication, physical exercise training is a potential strategy to reduce blood pressure, however, the ability to perform exercise can be limited in the elderly. Hence, alternative non-pharmacological strategies to reduce blood pressure are necessary. Two interventions that have been shown to positively influence blood pressure are respiratory muscle training (RMT) and intermittent hypoxia (IH). Whether a combination of RMT and IH yields even better effects is currently unknown. Therefore, in this study, the effect of a single session of RMT with and without IH on blood pressure and associated cardiovascular parameters will be investigated in elderly subjects with pre-hypertension.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of inspiratory muscle strength training for lowering blood pressure and improving physiological function (vascular, motor, and cognitive) in middle-aged and older adults with elevated systolic blood pressure.