Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The risk for cardiovascular complications is already substantially increased in persons with borderline elevation of arterial pressure (141-159/90-94 mmHg and transiently below). It increases progressively with higher grades of hypertension. The main aim of treatment is thus a significant improvement in survival for the patient. Persons with raised blood pressure (BP) have often additional cardiovascular risk factors such as deranged carbohydrate metabolism, dyslipidemia, left ventricular hypertrophy, smoking and others. Treatment of hypertensive patients should thus not only normalize BP but should at the same time reduce associated risk factors or at least not increase them. Conventional antihypertensive treatment based on thiazides in high doses or beta-blocking agents led to marked reduction of strokes and heart failure, but did not satisfactorily reduce coronary heart disease or sudden cardiac death. It has been suspected that other cardiac risk factors are insufficiently influenced or eventually even deteriorated by conventional therapy, thus counteracting partly a beneficial effect of lowered BP. Beta-blockers however have at least a secondary preventive effect after myocardial infarction. Newer antihypertensive drugs such as ACE-inhibitors, calcium antagonists and alpha 1-blockers reduce left ventricular hypertrophy and are at least neutral with regard to metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates. The non-thiazide diuretic indapamide and the serotonin (S2-) blocker ketanserin likewise are neutral with regard to glucose and lipid metabolism. The efficacy of these new drugs regarding long term survival is as yet undetermined. Persisting borderline or established hypertension should as a rule always be approached with basic non-pharmacologic measures: loss of overweight, reduction of alcohol intake, exercise, avoidance of high salt foods, abstention from smoking and withdrawal of BP-raising drugs. If antihypertensive medication is indicated, potential first line drugs are ACE-inhibitors, calcium antagonists, beta-blockers, thiazides at low dose, indapamide, ketanserin, the alpha 1-blocker prazosin and others; initially as monotherapy, if needed in combinations of 2 or 3. Older patients or those will with additional disturbances such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, nephropathy, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, claudication, asthma and others need problem-adjusted modifications of treatment.
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PMID:[Antihypertensive therapy in the nineties]. 153 54

The diagnosis of "diuretic-induced oedema" was made in 17 women (mean age 42.4 [23-60] years) who had developed generalized oedema after stopping their (chronic) intake of diuretics. Five patients were between 11 and 32% overweight, five of them were unusually old. A further four patients had severe concomitant diseases, such as primary lymphoedema, mitral valve defect and lupus erythematosus. In 10 of the 17 discontinuation was successful: the initial weight gain averaged 3.9 (1.5-7.5) kg. The maximal weight-gain, in a woman in the course of weaning her of the diuretic, was reversed within 20 days. Diuretic withdrawal after more than 20 years in a woman with mitral valve disease caused heart failure. Diuretic abuse caused prerenal failure in one women, but renal function became normal again after stopping of the diuretic and rehydration.
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PMID:[Diuretic-induced edema]. 230 93

The aim of the present study was to relate the clinical course in patients after a first acute myocardial infarction with the site and size of infarct, estimated from standard enzyme measurements. One hundred and eight consecutive patients who suffered an acute myocardial infarction for the first time were followed-up after 30 months in general practice. Twenty-six patients had died and 8 had had another infarction. Sixty-two of the surviving patients had received treatment for ischaemic heart disease, usually for angina pectoris and less often for heart failure and arrhythmias. No correlation was found between ischaemic heart disease requiring treatment and the enzyme-estimated size or the site of the infarct. With anterior infarcts there was, however, an overweight of arrhythmias requiring treatment. Of the patients at work, 31% had changed job or job status because of ischaemic heart disease. At the end of the 30 month period, 50 patients were in functional class 1 and 2, and 32 in functional class 3 and 4 (New York Heart Association's classification).
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PMID:The relationship between serum enzyme activity, infarct site, and cardiac complications after a first myocardial infarction. A follow-up study in general practice. 258 65

Sleep-related breathing disorders often lead to cardio-pulmonary and cardiovascular complications as well as to cardiac failure. It is thus necessary to carry out a detailed medical diagnostic work-up to assess the cardiac risk before initiating therapy. Basic requirements for successful therapy are preventive measures. Weight reduction for the usually overweight patients, avoidance of alcohol, sedatives and tranquilizers, and adequate sleep hygiene. Before a vacation at high altitudes, individual advice is needed. Medical treatment includes the prescription of respiration stimulants in certain cases as also--after careful estimation of the risks--prescription of tricyclic antidepressants. Today, the application of calcium-channel blockers and theophylline seems to be most successful. In an examination of our own involving 20 patients we found a significant reduction in the apnoea index due to treatment with euphyllong. In cases of pronounced findings and corresponding symptoms the use of mechanical measures, especially of nasal CPAP therapy can be recommended in more than 80% of patients. Those who cannot be adequately treated by the methods mentioned above, must be provided with a tracheostomy. This drastic form of therapy should only be considered after a thorough diagnostic evaluation and exhaustive use of all other methods. At present, oxygen therapy is still under discussion in the literature and can be recommended only in cases of an "overlap" syndrome.
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PMID:[Treatment of sleep apnea]. 269 23

We studied 17 severely obese subjects (age range 26 to 42 years), without hypertension, diabetes mellitus, angina, or clinical signs of heart failure or respiratory disease, and 16 age-matched control subjects. X-teleroentgenographic findings (transverse cardiac diameter and cardiothoracic ratio), blood pressure, and mechanocardiographic parameters were analyzed in both groups. By means of conventional simultaneous recordings of ECG, phonocardiogram, and carotid pulse (100 mm/sec), systolic time intervals were calculated as mean values from 10 beats in the morning. The following comparisons were made by means of analysis of variance: heart rate, preejection period (PEP), rate-corrected PEPI (PEPI), left ventricular ejection time (LVET), and QS2 interval (QS2); the latter two were both corrected for heart rate, respectively, as LVETI and QS2I and the PEP/LVET ratio. Abnormal x-ray data were shown in the obese group along with higher values for heart rate, PEP, PEPI, and PEP/LVET and a shorter LVETI; there were no differences in QS2I or blood pressure. There was a correlation between the amount of overweight and, respectively, transverse cardiac diameter (r = 0.84), heart rate (r = 0.69), PEP (r = 0.49), PEPI (r = 0.59), LVETI (r = -0.61), and PEP/LVET ratio (r = 0.72). A correlation was also found between transverse cardiac diameter and PEP/LVET (r = 0.67). We conclude, therefore, that abnormalities in the mechanocardiographic parameters are related to cardiac enlargement, suggesting a preclinical cardiac dysfunction secondary to chronic cardiocirculatory overload in severe obesity. Thus systolic time intervals appear to be affected by preclinical abnormalities of cardiac performance in these subjects.
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PMID:Abnormal systolic time intervals in obesity and their relationship with the amount of overweight. 294 49

The prevalence, incidence, secular trends, precursors and prognosis of cardiac failure (CHF) is investigated over 3 decades of follow-up of 5209 subjects. Some 485 men and women developed first evidence of CHF. Annual incidence increased from 3 per 1000 at ages 35-64 years to 10 per 1000 at ages 65-94 years with a male predominance because of higher rates of coronary disease. Half developing CHF had coronary disease, but only 10% were free of concomitant hypertension. Appearance of coronary disease conferred an 8-fold increased risk of CHF. Hypertension is the dominant precursor of CHF, increasing risk 2-6 fold; 70% had antecedent hypertension. Systolic pressure was more predictive than diastolic. Non-specific S-T and T-wave changes, intraventricular conduction disturbances and left ventricular hypertrophy were powerful predictors, even taking blood pressure into account. Other independent risk factors include: low vital capacity, rapid heart rate, diabetes, cardiac enlargement, overweight (in women), serum cholesterol (in men under 65 years of age), cigarettes, proteinuria and hematocrit. Risk of CHF can be estimated over a 30-fold range from profiles made up of these independent risk factors. A preventive approach is essential. Despite potent glycosides, diuretics, vasodilators and antihypertensive treatment CHF continues to be a lethal end-stage of heart disease with a 50% 5 year mortality rate. Sudden death is a prominent terminal feature occurring at 9 times the general population rate.
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PMID:Epidemiology and prevention of cardiac failure: Framingham Study insights. 366 63

Future trends in hypertensive treatment have to rely on our past and present experience with antihypertensive drugs as well as on emerging concepts of blood pressure regulation, on which some new drugs in the "pipeline" are based. Early detection of hypertension, before organ manifestations particularly in the heart, the kidney and the vessels occur, remain mandatory since in most of the patients with mild and moderate hypertension the high blood pressure is not diagnosed at all or treated inadequately. Prevention of cardiac, vascular, renal or metabolic complications has always been better for the patient and less costly than their repair or reparation. Our present treatment goals have often not reached far enough. Normalisation of blood pressure demonstrates only surrogate efficacy of our treatment. Our ultimate goal has to be improvement of total or cerebrovascular or cardiovascular and cardiac mortality. Important steps on that road are the prevention or reparation of cardiac hypertrophy, of the increased extracellular matrix and collagen deposition, the conservation of vascular integrity including both coronary and systemic microangiopathy and macroangiopathy. For the patient this means integrated care of his associated disorders that is of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, lipid disorders, overweight and the metabolic syndrome. True health efficacy (= reduction of total or cerebro- and cardiovascular mortality) has been demonstrated so far only by blood pressure reduction with diuretics (thiazides) and beta-blockers in long term studies, whereas sufficient surrogate efficacy, the lowering of blood pressure, has been demonstrated with almost all the others drugs either in mono- or in combinationtherapy. Together with ACE-inhibitors, which have demonstrated their prognostic value in patients with heart failure of different causes, thiazides (as the most representative diuretic) and betablockade can be considered first line drugs in the treatment of hypertension. Long-term mortality trials for ACE-inhibitors in hypertension are needed, however, to prove that the anticipated benefit from the heart failure megatrials can also be taken for granted for hypertensive patients without coronary artery disease as well. All other drugs should not or not yet be considered first line medication, although treatment behavior in the US and in Europe shows wide-spread use of calcium antagonists in short- and long-acting dihydropyridine type hypertensive patients. No peer reviewed journal has so far published a randomized double-blind trial with the endpoint of total or cardiovascular mortality in hypertension using calcium antagonists. A recent case control study, as well as the preliminary data from MIDAS and GLANT, for which event rates are available in abstract form, suggest that short acting calcium-antagonists of the dihydropyridine type, though controlling blood pressure well, are not reducing mortality but show a trend to increase cardiovascular events particularly when given in higher doses. In contrast the unpublished data from a Chinese megatrial with dihydropyridines (STONE) demonstrate effective blood pressure reduction and benefit in mortality in a population that differs from patients in Europe and in the USA because of the low prevalence of coronary artery disease. No randomized, double blindly acquired data on mortality as the primary end of antihypertensive treatment are yet available for verapamil, diltiazem and the new class of longer acting calciumantagonists. Only when speculating from trials with calcium antagonists in coronary artery disease e.g. the DAVIT II study, one could imagine so far that prognostic benefit may be expected from drugs that do not or very little activate the adrenergic and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and the baroreceptors and reduce or at least maintain heart rate. The need for double blind, randomized trials with the different Ca-antagonists is obvious, before a further w
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PMID:[Retrospective studies and prospects of therapy for hypertension]. 858 97

Studies of Asian Pacific American populations are often flawed because while the population is quite heterogeneous, researchers usually collapse them into a single category, making it impossible to assess the health status or needs of individual Asian Pacific American ethnic groups. Using a probability sample of Guam residents, the analysis reported here addresses the problem by documenting the health status and characteristics of Chamorro and Filipino hypertensives. In contrast to predictions from the literature, Chamorros have a higher prevalence of hypertension than Filipinos. Additional results show that hypertensive Chamorro men and women are from lower socioeconomic status levels than their Filipino counterparts, while hypertensive men and women of both ethnic groups appear equally likely to be overweight and to suffer diabetes. Male hypertensives are at greater risk for psychological distress than normotensives, and have a greater chance of heart failure. Compared to Filipinos, hypertensive Chamorros are more likely to evaluate their overall physical health as poor.
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PMID:The health status and characteristics of hypertensives in Guam. 1005 Jan 85

Obesity is a chronic complex disorder, which requires long-term treatment. The aim of this study was to estimate on the basis of current literature the coexistence of the cardiovascular system diseases and overweight. It was concluded that obesity is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, hypertension and heart failure.
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PMID:[Obesity and cardiovascular diseases]. 1071 Sep 55

The debate about the importance of salt in the pathogenesis and treatment of hypertension is still ongoing. The importance of salt is rooted on several factors. First, salt is one of the first factors who has been identified to be of potential importance in blood pressure regulation. Second, during the last decades several other pathogenetic risk factors for essential hypertension have been identified, however, without the identification of one single predominant risk factor. These risk factors include different genetic factors and predispositions as well as modifiable environmental factors. For the development of hypertension usually several of these risk factors have to be present. In miscellaneous disease conditions, such as heart failure, salt induces a sodium and volume retention. Accordingly it is often falsely concluded that salt will lead to a volume retention and hypertension in all subjects and that a salt restriction will lead to a normalization of an elevated blood pressure. Although about 40% of the patients with essential hypertension are salt sensitive, the concept of salt sensitivity is not valid for all subjects of a population. Accordingly one can not conclude that a general salt restriction would be a cure for hypertension. The therapeutic priority in the non-pharmacological prevention and/or therapy of hypertension lies usually in the control of other risk factors than salt intake. These risks include overweight and obesity, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity. These concepts are supported by several recent meta-analysis.
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PMID:[The salt-free diet]. 1075 96


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