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Decreased Blood Pressure (decreased + blood_pressure)
Selected AbstractsAmiodarone or Procainamide for the Termination of Sustained Stable Ventricular Tachycardia: An Historical Multicenter ComparisonACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2010Keith A. Marill MD Abstract Objectives:, The objective was to compare the effectiveness of intravenous (IV) procainamide and amiodarone for the termination of spontaneous stable sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). Methods:, A historical cohort study of consecutive adult patients with stable sustained VT treated with IV amiodarone or procainamide was performed at four urban hospitals. Patients were identified for enrollment by admissions for VT and treatment with the study agents in the emergency department (ED) from 1993 to 2008. The primary measured outcome was VT termination within 20 minutes of onset of study medicine infusion. A secondary effectiveness outcome was the ultimate need for electrical therapy to terminate the VT episode. Major adverse effects were tabulated, and blood pressure responses to medication infusions were compared. Results:, There were 97 infusions of amiodarone or procainamide in 90 patients with VT, but the primary outcome was unknown after 14 infusions due to administration of another antidysrhythmic during the 20-minute observation period. The rates of VT termination were 25% (13/53) and 30% (9/30) for amiodarone and procainamide, respectively. The adjusted odds of termination with procainamide compared to amiodarone was 1.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.4 to 3.9). Ultimately, 35/66 amiodarone patients (53%, 95% CI = 40 to 65%) and 13/31 procainamide patients (42%, 95% CI = 25 to 61%) required electrical therapy for VT termination. Hypotension led to cessation of medicine infusion or immediate direct current cardioversion (DCCV) in 4/66 (6%, 95% CI = 2 to 15%) and 6/31 (19%, 95% CI = 7 to 37%) patients who received amiodarone and procainamide, respectively. Conclusions:, Procainamide was not more effective than amiodarone for the termination of sustained VT, but the ability to detect a significant difference was limited by the study design and potential confounding. As used in practice, both agents were relatively ineffective and associated with clinically important proportions of patients with decreased blood pressure. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:297,306 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] The effect of visiting zoos on human health and quality of lifeANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010Taketo SAKAGAMI ABSTRACT The increased mental stress of daily life and aging of the population are serious matters in Japan. There are many studies regarding the effects of human-animal interactions on mental and physical human health, whereas there are few studies examining the effects of visiting zoos. To determine the effect of visiting zoos on human health and quality of life, two different zoos were visited by 70 participants in Experiment 1 and 163 participants in Experiment 2. In this study we administered the WHO QOL-26 questionnaire in Japanese to assess the psychological scales of participants, and blood pressures and pulse rates were measured to assess their physical scales. We also used pedometers to count the number of steps taken during zoo visits. Both zoo visits decreased blood pressure and participants demonstrated more than 6000 steps during each visit. The quality of life sub-scale scores were improved after zoo visits. [source] Additive beneficial effects of amlodipine and atorvastatin in reversing advanced cardiac hypertrophy in elderly spontaneously hypertensive ratsCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 11 2009Jing-Chao Lu Summary 1Additive beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease have been reported for amlodipine and atorvastatin. However, it is still unclear whether the combination of amlodipine and atorvastatin has additive beneficial effects on the regression of advanced cardiac hypertrophy in hypertension. In the present study, the effects of the drug combination on advanced cardiac hypertrophy were investigated in elderly spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). 2Elderly SHR (36 weeks old) were randomly allocated into four groups of 12: (i) a vehicle-treated control group; (ii) an amlodipine (10 mg/kg per day)-treated group; (iii) an atorvastatin (10 mg/kg per day)-treated group; and (iv) a group treated with a combination of amlodipine and atorvastatin (both at 10 mg/kg per day). Drugs were administered by oral gavage every morning for a period of 12 weeks before hearts were harvested for analysis. 3Combined administration of amlodipine and atorvastatin significantly suppressed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and upregulation of hypertrophic and profibrotic genes, and also improved left ventricular diastolic dysfunction to a greater extent than did amlodipine monotherapy. Further beneficial effects of combination therapy on advanced cardiac hypertrophy were associated with a greater reduction of NADPH oxidase-mediated increases in cardiac reactive oxygen species (ROS), rather than decreased blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. 4To elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms, we examined cardiovascular NADPH oxidase subunits and found that amlodipine clearly attenuated the expression of p47phox and p40phox and slightly but significantly reduced p22phox and Rac-1 levels in heart tissue. Combination treatment with amlodipine plus atorvastatin led to a further reduction in p22phox, p47phox and Rac-1 protein levels compared with amlodipine alone. 5In conclusion, combined amlodipine and atorvastatin treatment has a greater beneficial effect on advanced cardiac hypertrophy compared with amlodipine monotherapy. The benefits are likely to be related to the additive effects of the drugs on the suppression of NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS generation. [source] Ketanserin stabilizes blood pressure in conscious spontaneously hypertensive ratsCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2003Chao-Yu Miao Summary 1.,It has been demonstrated that blood pressure variability (BPV) is increased in hypertension and related to organ damage. It will be important to lower BPV in the treatment of hypertension. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of ketanserin, a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist with a weak ,1 -adrenoceptor blocking effect, on BPV in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). 2.,It was found that ketanserin decreased blood pressure (BP) and BPV in SHR when administered intravenously (3 mg/kg, i.v.). Ketanserin decreased BPV, but not the BP level, when administered intracerebroventricularly (50 µg/rat, i.c.v.). 3.,Prazosin, an ,1 -adrenoceptor antagonist, lowered BP but did not affect BPV when given either i.v. (0.5 mg/kg) or i.c.v. (30 ug/rat). Ritanserin (0.625 mg/kg, i.v.; 40 'ug/rat, i.c.v.), a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist, decreased BPV only when administered i.c.v. and did not modify the BP level. 4.,Ketanserin enhanced arterial baroreflex function in SHR when given either i.v. or i.c.v. 5.,The stabilizing effect of ketanserin on BP was persistent when administered intragastrically. This administration route is similar to oral administration clinically. 6.,It is concluded that ketanserin is an antihypertensive agent with an effect of reducing BPV. This effect is mainly mediated by central 5-HT2A receptors and is probably attributable to the restoration of arterial baroreflex function. [source] | ||||||||||