Pulmonary Hypertension

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This term refers to the rise in blood pressure you might experience around healthcare professionals — people in "white coats." Share on Pinterest Photographs left to right: Elan Irving/Getty Images, MaryliaDesign/Getty Images If you feel nervous or very anxious around healthcare professionals, the term "white coat syndrome" might apply to you. While not an official diagnosis, it's a term often used to describe the rise in blood pressure that some people get in uncomfortable settings, like at a doctor's office. In addition to generally feeling anxious around doctors, you might also experience white coat syndrome if you're worried about receiving negative or life threatening news. White coat syndrome causes the blood pressure readings your doctor or nurse takes to be less accurate than the results you might get at home or in a less stressful setting. About 15–30% of people who have elevated blood pressure in a doctor's office setting have white coat sy...

Introduction Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a serious health problem and one of the most leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. 1 Cardiotoxicity induced by medications is one of the most important adverse reactions that may halt the use of many newly discovered medications and lead to the discontinuation from clinical trials and it could result in withdrawal from the market when it produced serious side effects. 2 Most of the drug classes may have cardiotoxic effects but these effects appear only after prolonged use of these medications; for instance, anticancer agents may represent a major class of drugs that cause cardiac damages either by the parent compound or its metabolite. 3 Doxorubicin is an anthracycline antibiotic, very effective in the treatment of various types of cancer, but the development of cardiac damage may attenuate its clinical uses. The cardiac toxicities of doxorubicin include transient cardiac arrhythmia, ECG changes, cardiomyopathy, and ...

By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, July 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Two long used types of blood pressure drugs are equally effective, but the less popular one seems to have fewer side effects, according to a large "real-world" study. The two classes of medication are both recommended as "first-line" treatments for high blood pressure: angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). ACE inhibitors have been around longer and studied more extensively, so doctors prescribe them more often. But the new findings suggest that ARBs might be a better choice for people just starting on medication, the researchers said. "There was no difference in the effectiveness of the drugs," senior researcher Dr. George Hripcsak said. "If you're not having side effects [with an ACE inhibitor], there's no need to switch." Looking at data on nearly 3 million patients, the investigators found that ACE inhibitors a...

LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - Parents are being advised about a rare summertime rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases throughout Northeast Ohio. RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults. Killian McCall, 4, is still dealing with issues caused by the severe cause of RSV he had when he was a year old. "It actually ended up being pretty bad, they put him in the emergency room," said Benjamin McCall, Killian's father. "At the time, my son was breathing about 60 times per minute. He did end up on several inhalers and he still has asthma now as a result of it." RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs) in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RSV cases ...

Richard Mullvain, RPh, BCCP, BCPS, CCCC: Let's move on now. This is circling back to the guidelines we've been talking about. I want to make sure pharmacists understand the goals of guideline-directed medical therapy, or GDMT. We've already commented briefly on the 2021 update to the ACC [American College of Cardiology] Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Optimization of Heart Failure Treatment. The previous update was 4 years prior, in 2017. I'm curious to get your takes on what has been or will be the impact on clinical practice. I'm going to start with you, Ryan. If you can, comment on the recent update in the guidelines and how you see this impacting practice, including the shout-out of pharmacy involvement. Ryan Jacobsen, PharmD, BCPS: First of all, the goals of guideline-directed medical therapy are 3-fold. One is to improve patient symptomatology. The second is to prevent hospital admissions. The third is to reduce mortality. As we've outlined througho...

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are long-term respiratory conditions that make it difficult for a person to breathe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate more than 25 million people in the United States had asthma as of 2019, including 5 million children under 18 years. There is no cure for either condition, but treatments are available. The most common treatment option involves using a handheld inhaler or a nebulizer to inhale medication directly into the airways. These medicines help reduce inflammation, open up the airways, and clear any mucus build-up in the lungs. Some of the most common inhaler types for asthma and COPD include corticosteroids, beta-agonists, anticholinergics, and combination inhalers. This article looks at the different types of inhaler devices, what medication they contain, and how they work. Most inhaler types are small enough to fit in a pocket. Types of inhalers include metered-dose inhalers (MDIs), dry powde...