Practice Management
Children with elevated blood pressure in childhood can experience a greater risk of early death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood, a new long-term study in JAMA finds. At baseline, 21% of the 37,081 children studied were classified as having hypertension, while about 19% were classified as having elevated blood pressure. Participants (born from 1959 to 1966) were followed to a median age of 54 years. At follow-up, a 1-SD higher systolic blood pressure measure …
Read More
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a new warning for patients and providers to be aware of risks related to unauthorized devices that claim to measure or estimate blood pressure. Many blood pressure devices currently sold directly to consumers have not been evaluated for safety and effectiveness. Such devices are required to receive FDA marketing authorization to be lawfully marketed in the United States. With the rise in wearables, more consumers are looking to …
Read More
Recent updates to blood pressure (BP) guidelines published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology have lowered the threshold for initiating hypertension treatment among low-risk patients. According to the 2025 joint guideline from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, adults without clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) and with an estimated 10-year CVD risk below 7.5% should begin antihypertensive therapy if their average systolic BP remains at 130 mm Hg or …
Read More
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new polypill that combines telmisartan, amlodipine, and indapamide for the treatment of hypertension in adults, including use as an initial therapy. This is the first FDA-approved triple-combination medication indicated for initial use in patients who are likely to require multiple drugs to reach their blood pressure goals, according to a press release from manufacturer George Medicines. Most patients with hypertension ultimately need 2 or more medications …
Read More
A randomized clinical trial of 133 adults published in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that arm position can have an effect on blood pressure (BP) readings. When subjects supported their arm on their lap, it resulted in systolic BP readings overestimated by 3.9 mm Hg and diastolic BP readings overestimated by 4.0 mm Hg. Additionally, an unsupported arm at the subject’s side overestimated systolic BP by 6.5 mm Hg and diastolic BP by 4.4 mm Hg. …
Read More