Blood Pressure

A common source of BP measurement errors known as terminal digit bias — “an observer’s preference for a last digit, usually 0, and a tendency to round up or down the BP measurement to that digit” — often occurred when nurses used a manual device instead of an automated device, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Exposure to gestational diabetes in utero is associated with worse cardiovascular health in offspring from childhood through adolescence, according to an analysis of health plan data published in Pediatric Obesity.

Individuals who trained for and completed their first marathon experienced improved BP and aortic stiffness equivalent to an approximate 4-year reduction in vascular age, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The top stories in cardiology last week included a study that showed patients who underwent intensive BP reduction experienced significant drops in new-onset acute heart failure and mortality.

A survey conducted by the American Heart Association and AMA found that physician assistants, primary care physicians, nurses and medical assistants do not typically undergo refresher training on BP measurement, although there is a broad interest to participate in training modules.

PHILADELPHIA — Adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity without CVD experienced dramatic metabolic improvements after a 12-week, low-calorie diet intervention but saw no change in diastolic function, which was only observed with an aerobic exercise intervention, according to data presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Among women primarily born in Mexico, deportation worry was linked to nonlinear mean arterial pressure and systolic BP trajectories, which may widen disparities in CVD risk factors and outcomes, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

An oral chemotherapy treatment used to treat myeloproliferative neoplasms is associated with substantial weight gain and increased systolic blood pressure, according to findings from a real-world analysis published in Scientific Reports.

Patients with hypertension who took BP-lowering medications at bedtime had improved ambulatory BP control compared with those who took medications when they woke up, which led to a reduction in major CVD events, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal.

Among children with obesity, there is a negative association between total antioxidant capacity and systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure, according to findings published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.