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Biomedical subjects

R Stamler

Publications and source records attributed to R Stamler.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Need to prevent and control high-normal and high blood pressure, particularly so-called "mild" hypertension: epidemiological and clinical data.

The need to prevent and control high blood pressure (HBP), including so-called "mild" hypertension [diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 90-104 mm Hg in adults age 30+] stems from the extensive data on the increased risks due to these common blood pressure (BP) levels, including risk of catastrophic cardiovascular events (coronary, cerebrovascular, etc.), both nonfatal and fatal. Prospective population data from the national cooperative Pooling Project and the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry illustrate the extensively documented facts. They also show that only a small minority of middle-aged and older Americans have optimal low-normal BP levels, i.e., DBP less than 80 mm Hg (SBP less than 120). Thus, the problem of BP above optimal level for health over a long life span is a population-wide problem. The data also show that the great majority of excess catastrophic events attributable to elevated BP occur among people with DBP 90-104 and 80-89 mm Hg, levels very common in the population. Most people with such BP levels also have one or more other major risk factors (e.g., hypercholesterolemia, cigarette use, ECG abnormalities) and thus are at markedly increased risk, both relative and absolute. In addition to these excess risks for major illness, disability, and death, people with BP above optimal levels are more highly prone to other events, clinical and subclinical, that have adverse effects on long-term prognosis, including development of target organ damage and severe hypertension. These data lead to the following inferences about medical care and public health strategy: (a) A key task is, by safe nutritional-hygienic means, to shift the entire population distribution of BP downward, for both primary and secondary prevention of HBP. Such means include prevention and control of obesity, high sodium and alcohol intake, and sedentary habit, from early childhood on. (b) People with DBP 80-89 mm Hg need to be identified promptly, with institution of nutritional-hygienic measures to prevent development of frank hypertension and to correct other risk factors. (c) People with DBP 90-104 and higher need to be identified promptly, with institution of measures to normalize BP and control other major risk factors, by nutritional-hygienic means alone whenever possible or in combination with drug treatment for HBP when necessary to prevent organ system damage, serious illness, disability, and premature death.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Nonpharmacological control of hypertension.

Ability to safely withdraw well-controlled mild hypertensives from drugs is being tested in a three-group randomized trial. Group I (intervention) was removed from drugs after the first 2 months of nutrition counseling. Counseling is continuing through the remaining years of the trial to achieve a minimum weight loss of 10 lb if overweight, reduction of sodium intake to less than 1,800 mg, and reduction of alcohol intake to not more than two drinks per day. Group II (the first control group) was also removed from drugs to see if previous long-term blood pressure control had a carryover effect without dietary change. Blood pressure is monitored frequently in both groups, with return to drug treatment in the event of specified blood pressure rise. Group III (the second control group) has remained on drugs for comparison of blood pressure and biochemical variables. In Group I mean 30-month weight loss was 8 lb, with 35% losing 10+ lb; sodium intake was reduced by 38%. Blood pressure control without drugs was maintained for 47% of Group I patients but only 16% of group II patients (P less than 0.05). These findings indicate it may be possible, after establishing good blood pressure control, to maintain control in a sizable proportion without medication, when reduction of weight, sodium, and alcohol intake is achieved.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1985

Ethnic differences in blood pressure and heart rate of Chicago school children.

In 1975-1978, the Chicago Department of Health conducted a screening program that included measurements of blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight, triceps skinfold thickness, and arm circumference, and calculation of body mass index and muscle circumference for non-public school children. Based on data on 4,086 boys and girls aged 5-10 years from the program, this study examined the ethnic differences in blood pressure and heart rate among children of white, black, Latino, and Oriental ethnicity. Mean levels for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were higher for Oriental and black children than for white and Latino children. These differences were independent of age, height, weight, and skinfold thickness. The black children had a much lower mean heart rate than the other children. A seasonal variation was observed for systolic blood pressure, i.e., with each sex group, the mean systolic blood pressure adjusted for age, skinfold thickness, and height tended to be higher in spring than in fall and winter. (Note-- no child was screened during the summer because of summer break.) With control for season, ethnic differences in systolic blood pressure disappeared, but not the ethnic differences in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1985

Influence of treatment of "mild" hypertension on coronary heart disease.

High blood pressure (HBP) in the range 90-104 DBP ("mild") has been shown to carry a sizeable excess risk of coronary death, at least in countries with atherogenic diets. Effective treatment to control HBP should result in lowering CHD risk. Early trials comparing drug treatment vs placebo in such hypertensives were generally too small or too limited to demonstrate this, although overall trends favored treatment. The U.S. Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program (HDFP), a population based trial with 10,940 patients, did demonstrate large reductions in CHD mortality and in nonfatal CHD, as measured by a variety of indices. A subsequent large trial, the Multiple Risk Factor Trial (MRFIT), found benefit in reducing CHD deaths for most hypertensives, but for the subgroup with resting ECG abnormalities, CHD deaths were greater in the Special Intervention than in the Usual Care group. The overall findings of the several studies indicate benefit of effective antihypertensive treatment in reducing CHD mortality and morbidity for most hypertensives with DBP 90-104. However, need to highlight a number of other aspects of antihypertensive treatment is indicated: use of lowest drug level possible to achieve BP normalization; need to control all major CHD risk factors in hypertensives; need to utilize nutritional means to further both these aims; need to monitor and counteract unwanted metabolic effects of antihypertensive drug therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Intervention for the prevention and control of hypertension and atherosclerotic diseases: United States and international experience.

Intervention to control hypertension and prevent coronary heart disease was initially undertaken in the United States in the late 1950s. It was conducted along three lines: randomized controlled trials, community demonstration projects, and broad public health and medical care efforts involving both the general population and its high-risk strata. This article reviews findings from the United States trials, particularly those on the primary prevention of coronary heart disease by unifactorial means (such as fat-modified diet, serum cholesterol-lowering drugs, antihypertensive drug treatment) and by multifactorial interventions. Results of unifactorial and multifactorial trials are discussed with reference to the prevention of high blood pressure. Studies in the United States are compared with research abroad, and current research needs are reviewed together with the implications for medical practice and public health. The United States population as a whole has a large high-risk segment. Since the late 1950s, significant population-wide changes have occurred in life-styles (diet, smoking, exercise habits), and this is especially true of the more educated. The proportion of persons with detected, treated, and controlled high blood pressure has risen markedly in all population strata. Consequently, a favorable shift has occurred in the population distribution of the major established risk factors: "rich" diet, hypercholesterolemia, high blood pressure, and cigarette smoking. It can be reasonably inferred that the steady and marked declines in death rates in the United States from coronary heart disease, stroke, all cardiovascular diseases, and all causes since 1968 are related to reductions in these risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Primary prevention of hypertension--a randomized controlled trial.

Nutritional-hygienic intervention is a key strategy in the control of hypertension through primary prevention. To test the efficacy of this approach, 201 men and women were selected to participate in a randomized controlled trial on the primary prevention of hypertension. Individuals were taken into the trial if their diastolic blood pressure at entry was 80-89 mm Hg with either relative weight 1.10-1.49 or heart rate of 80 or greater. Half of the eligible persons were randomized into the monitored group and half were randomized into the intervention group receiving individual intervention to achieve a weight loss of 10 or more lbs (greater than or equal to 4.5 kg), to reduce Na intake to 75 mmol (1800 mg), to limit alcohol intake to no more than 2 drinks per day (26 g) and to engage in regular moderate physical activity. At two years, the 75 participants of the intervention group showed a mean weight loss of 5.2 lbs. among those initially overweight, a mean reduction in Na intake of 44% of goal and a moderate reduction of alcohol intake. Self-reported exercise had also increased and was reflected in the larger decrease in mean heart rate compared with the monitored group. Diastolic blood pressure was only slightly lower among the intervention group compared to the monitored group, but was an additional 4.0 mm Hg lower among those intervention participants achieving weight loss and reduction in Na intake greater than the median for the group. In addition, at two years, a rise in diastolic blood pressure sufficient to require antihypertensive medication occurred in 5 participants of the control group compared to 0 of the intervention group. At three years, 11 monitored and 3 intervention group participants required antihypertensive medication.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Trial on control of hypertension by nutritional means: three-year results.

Ability to safely withdraw medication from well-controlled mild hypertensives was tested in a 3-group randomized trial. Group I (Intervention): drugs were stopped 2 months after nutrition counseling began. Counselling continued throughout the remaining years of the trial to achieve: a minimum of 10 lb weight loss if overweight; reduction of sodium intake to 1800 mg/day or less; reduction of alcohol intake to not more than 2 drinks per day. Group II (control group 1): drugs were stopped to see if previous long-term blood pressure control had a carryover effect without diet change. Pressure was monitored frequently in both groups with return to treatment if diastolic blood pressure rose to 90 mmHg or above. Group III (control group 2) remained on drugs for comparison of blood pressure and biochemical variables. In Group I mean weight loss at 3 years was 7 lb (3.18 kg) with 39% losing 10 lb (4.55 kg) or more; sodium intake was reduced by 37%. Blood pressure control without drugs was achieved in 44% of Group I patients. This compares with only 15% in Group II. These findings suggest it may be possible after establishing good blood pressure control, to maintain control in a sizeable proportion with less or no medication, when reduction of weight, sodium, and alcohol is achieved.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1983

Dietary salt and blood pressure.

Research evidence on the role of dietary sodium in the etiology and pathogenesis of hypertension is briefly reviewed. This matter is assuming new importance at present, given new data on the efficacy of normalization of blood pressure for adults with so-called "mild" hypertension (average diastolic 90-104 mm Hg), hence the need for safe nutritional-hygienic alternatives to years-long drug treatment for millions of people with such hypertension. Two trials by the authors deal with some unresolved questions in this area. The first, a preliminary study, involved 21 lacto-ovo-vegetarian high school students living in a boarding school. With decrease in daily Na intake from 216 to 72 meq for the experimental compared with the control group, red blood cell Na concentration was significantly lower in the former; systolic pressure was slightly but not significantly lower. The second trial, the Primary Prevention of Hypertension, involves over 200 hypertension-prone persons aged 30-44, and explores the ability in the experimental group to reduce blood pressure and prevent development of hypertension by safe nutritional-hygienic means (weight reduction, dietary Na decrease, avoidance of excess alcohol, rhythmic exercise). Initial results at 6 months are presented. Trials on the prevention and control of hypertension by nonpharmacologic means, including reduced Na intake, and involving analyses of the inter-relationships among dietary Na, other dietary factors, Na metabolism, and blood pressure in samples from different population strata, are an important present-day research need.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Methodological problems in characterizing an individual's plasma glucose level.

Two methodological problems in characterizing an individual's plasma glucose level are examined in this study. First, how large is the intra-individual variation of an individual's 1-hr post-load glucose level and for this estimated intra-individual variation what are the probabilities of misclassifying individuals based on a one-time measurement only of glucose level? Second, do different tests-i.e. fasting, 1-hr, 2 hr post-load, GTT-yield consistent ranking for the same individual? The first of these was explored with data on subsamples from the Chicago Peoples Gas Company (PG) study and the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (CHA) study; the second, with data from the Chicago Coronary Prevention Evaluation Program (CPEP). For both the PG and CHA studies, the estimated ratios of the intra- to inter-individual variances were generally higher for post-load plasma glucose than blood pressure, heart rate, weight and serum uric acid. The conditional probabilities of misclassifying individuals into quintiles or deciles based on one measurement of 1-hr post-load glucose were also estimated from these data. These estimated probabilities indicated that the possible attenuation due to intra-individual variation cannot abolish a strong association; however, it may create some problem if the relationship is not very strong. Furthermore, both rank correlation and quintile classification analyses show that fasting, 1-hr and 2-hr plasma glucose level characterize individuals differently. Thus it is possible that the inconsistent results of previous studies, all using a one-time measure of plasma glucose, are partially due to the large intra-individual variation of this variable, and the use of methods that are not highly consistent in their classification of individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Pulse pressure-I. Level and associated factors in four Chicago epidemiologic studies.

Because systolic blood pressure rises more sharply than diastolic blood pressure for those middle aged and beyond, leading to an increasing prevalence with advancing age of elevated systolic blood pressure without elevated diastolic pressure, i.e. so-called pure systolic hypertension, the question arises as to whether or not factors that have been shown to be related to blood pressure and hypertension are related to pure systolic hypertension or to 'classical' hypertension, i.e. hypertension defined solely by the level of the diastolic pressure. This question was examined in four Chicago epidemiologic studies by examining the associations between several variables and pulse pressure, with pulse pressure redefined so that the association between a variable and pulse pressure indicated whether the variable was more strongly related to systolic or diastolic blood pressure. In these four studies, glucose, heart rate and cigarette use tended to show a stronger association with systolic pressure, suggesting a possible association with pure systolic hypertension, while hematocrit, serum cholesterol, and uric acid tended to be more strongly associated with diastolic pressure, or equally associated with systolic and diastolic pressure, suggesting an association with 'classical' hypertension. Relative weight tended to be more strongly associated with systolic pressure under the age of 35 and more strongly associated with diastolic pressure after age 45.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Pulse pressure-II. Factors associated with follow-up values in three Chicago epidemiologic studies.

This report, the second in a series on pulse pressure and pure systolic hypertension, examined in prospective analyses the associations between both the initial values of five variables and the changes in these variables and pulse pressure, utilizing data from three Chicago epidemiologic studies, in order to determine whether variables known to be related to blood pressure and hypertension are related to pure systolic hypertension or 'classical' hypertension. In these analyses follow-up pulse pressure, which was measured from 2-5 years after the initial measurement of the other variables, was redefined so that the association between the initial value or change and pulse pressure indicated whether the initial value or change was more strongly related to follow-up systolic or diastolic blood pressure. In these three studies, only the initial value for cigarette use had a consistent positive association with follow-up pulse pressure. Change in heart rate was generally positively related to follow-up pulse pressure, while the initial value was not. For relative weight and serum cholesterol, both the change and the initial tended to be negatively related. For glucose, the association was not consistent for either the initial value or the change. The results from these prospective analyses thus suggest that cigarette use is related to pure systolic hypertension, rather than 'classical' hypertension.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Pulse pressure-III. Prognostic significance in four Chicago epidemiologic studies.

This report, the third in a series on pulse pressure and pure systolic hypertension, examines the associations between blood pressure and the cardiovascular diseases and coronary heart disease, both cross-sectionally and prospectively, utilizing data from four Chicago epidemiologic studies, in an effort to determine whether or not a widened pulse pressure, or pure systolic hypertension, is an independent risk factor. In these analyses, blood pressure is divided into two components, one related to level and the other to pulse pressure, with pulse pressure redefined so that the association between pulse pressure and the prevalence of ECG abnormalities or mortality, indicates whether the endpoint is more strongly related to systolic or diastolic blood pressure. In these studies, blood pressure level is significantly related to both ECG abnormalities and mortality. In the cross-sectional analyses, pulse pressure is generally positively related to the prevalence of ECG abnormalities, indicating a stronger association for systolic blood pressure, and thus a possible association with pure systolic hypertension. However, in the prospective analyses, pulse pressure is generally not related to mortality, indicating an equal association with mortality for systolic and diastolic blood pressure in these studies. Thus, although the cross-sectional analyses generally support the hypothesis that a widened pulse pressure, or pure systolic hypertension, is an independent risk factor for the cardiovascular diseases and coronary heart disease, the prospective analyses do not.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Relative weight and blood pressure in four Chicago epidemiologic studies.

Because systolic blood pressure rises more sharply with age than diastolic blood pressure, leading to an increasing prevalence with advancing age of elevated systolic blood pressure without elevated diastolic pressure, i.e. so-called pure systolic hypertension, the question arises as to whether or not pure systolic hypertension has its own etiology and pathogenesis. Since pure systolic hypertension is characterized by a widened pulse pressure, the present report examined the association between relative weight and pulse pressure, both cross-sectionally and prospectively, in addition, to the association between relative weight and the level of blood pressure, in four Chicago epidemiologic studies. The positive association between relative weight and the level of blood pressure in these studies, in both cross-sectional and prospective analyses, reaffirms the finding in previous studies of a positive association between weight and blood pressure and the prevalence and incidence of hypertension. However, the results of these studies did not generally support the hypothesis that relative weight is related to pulse pressure, and thus possibly to pure systolic hypertension.

Adolescent↗