Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 17, Issue 28, 2011

Usually, many papers on the hypertension start with, approximately, the following words: hypertension is a major risk factor for developing coronary heart disease and stroke. This statement may seem, at first sight, a trite sentence of introductory type, but, on the contrary, it contains the basic assumption, which defines meaningfully what is and the role of hypertension. Whatever hypertension may be approached, and Read More

Epidemiological surveys demonstrate undoubtedly that cardiovascular disorders caused or associated with hypertension are at a high risk of non-fatal or fatal events and occurring with a great rate. Ischaemic heart disease with effort angina and myocardial infarction, often unrecognized myocardial infarction, stroke and transient ischaemic attack may be observed more frequently than other cardiovascular disorders in hy Read More

Hypertension is a complex, multifactorial disease; genetic factors represent one third to half of the inter-individual variability of blood pressure values. Among the causes of secondary hypertension are a group of disorders with a Mendelian inheritance pattern. Recent advances in molecular biology have revealed the pathogenesis of hypertension in many of these conditions. Remarkably, the mechanism in every case has pro Read More

Changes in clinical, biochemical and pathological variables characterize cardiovascular damage from smoking and hypertension when it acts independently. However, combined action of these major risk factors increases the rate of cardiovascular events. Ischaemic heart disease with stable effort angina, myocardial infarction and post-infarction arrhythmias may affect cardiovascular system because of smoking expos Read More

Blood pressure within prehypertensive levels confers higher cardiovascular risk. As prehypertension is also an intermediate stage for full hypertension, a precocious intervention with lifestyle changes or drugs is therefore appealing. Endothelial injury and dysfunction are thought to contribute to cardiovascular risk in prehypertension. Endothelial progenitor cell impairment has been linked to endothelial dysfunction, a Read More

The progressive ageing of world population, and the increasing prevalence hypertension in elderly people are leading to the consideration that hypertension in the elderly is one of the main topic in hypertension treatment. Multiple mechanisms, including stiffening of large arteries, endothelial dysfunction, cardiac remodeling, autonomic dysregulation, renal aspects, contribute to the great prevalence of hypertension Read More

Hypertension is a leading cardiovascular risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Age is the strongest risk factor for dementia and with the increasing life expectancy the number of patients living with dementia worldwide is estimated to progressively rise. A number of studies support an association between hypertension, particularly in midlife, and the development of cognitive disorders and dementia, including Alzheimer Read More

Arterial hypertension is a very common disease and an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Patients with arterial hypertension are characterized by functional and structural vascular abnormalities. Vascular endothelium plays a fundamental role in modulating vascular tone and structure. The physiological production of the relaxing factors including nitric oxide, prostacyclin and hyperpolarizing relaxing factors pro Read More

The long preclinical phase of atherosclerosis involves the interaction of genetic and environmental factors that modulate the progression of disease from early life. A variety of noninvasive tests have been used to study the arterial phenotype of childhood, allowing identification of arterial alterations long before clinical symptoms of cardiovascular (CV) disease become apparent. These techniques have improved our unders Read More

Hypertension is increasingly considered a strong and independent risk factor for supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. The presence and complexity of both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias influence morbidity, mortality, as well as the quality of life of patients. Diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle, left atrial size and function, and left ventricular hypertrophy have been suggested as the foremost unde Read More

Obesity, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance/type 2 diabetes and hypertension are clustered in the metabolic syndrome representing critical risk factors for increased incidence cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases, kidney failure and cancer. Ectopic fat accumulation, i.e., accumulation in the mediastinum, liver and the abdomen, as well as generalized fat accumulation are associated with arterial hypertension, either systolic o Read More

This article reviews the current imaging techniques and the methodologies used to derive quantitative markers of hypertension in the cardiovascular system. Firstly, simple but effective methods to assess regional and global function of large arteries are discussed. After, the role of echocardiography and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to assess geometric and mechanical indices of hypertension related Read More