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An experimental pill might help people with stubborn high blood pressure that won’t relent to other treatments, clinical trial results show. Patients with treatment-resistant high blood pressure saw a significant drop after taking the new drug baxdrostat once a day for three months, researchers reported Aug. 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Blood pressure fell by 9 to 10 mm/Hg in those taking baxdrostat, results show. “This level of reduction is linked to substantially lower risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease,” senior researcher Dr. Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London, said in a news release. About 4 out of 10 baxdrostat patients achieved a healthy blood pressure, compared to fewer than 2 in 10 given a placebo tablet, researchers found. Baxdrostat works by blocking the body’s production of aldosterone, a hormone that helps the kidneys regulate salt and water balance. Some people produce too much aldosterone, causing their bodies to hold onto salt and water. This pushes blood pressure up and makes it hard to keep at a healthy level, researchers said. “Around half of people treated for hypertension do not have it controlled,” Williams said. “However, this is a conservative estimate and the number is likely higher, especially as the target blood pressure we try to reach is now much lower than it was previously.”… read on > read on >

Everyone probably knows the phrase “music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,” and new research suggests it may do the same for heart health. A small study found that blood pressure appears to “synchronize” to patterns in music. British researchers say that might help boost the body’s baroreflex sensitivity — its ability to regulate blood pressure. The new findings could have wide-ranging implications for health, according to lead author Elaine Chew. She’s a trained pianist and professor of engineering at King’s College London. “This research raises the intriguing possibility that we could design music therapies to elicit specific biological responses in the future,” Chew explained. “This could be tailored specifically to individuals, bringing us closer to music as precision medicine. In the longer term, one day we may be able to use music to prevent heart disease or slow, arrest, or reverse its progression.” The findings were presented Thursday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting in Madrid. Chew’s research focused on an aspect of music called “phrase structure.” During a performance, musicians alter the tempo and loudness of music to mark the boundaries of phrases within the piece, creating pleasing musical patterns that people are drawn to. Some musical pieces have a more predictable phrase structure than others, the researchers noted. Prior research by the team had already found that predictable phrasing… read on > read on >

To increase transparency, the agency is publishing data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System daily rather than quarterly read on >

Medical education organizations have until Sept. 10 to submit plans detailing their nutrition education commitments read on >

Fatty foods might contribute to asthma in children, a new study says. Fats found in certain foods are linked to neutrophilic asthma, a non-allergic type of asthma triggered by microbial and bacterial proteins, researchers reported Aug. 27 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Specifically, a type of saturated fatty acid called stearic acid – often found in animal fat and processed foods – appears to start a chain reaction that can lead to neutrophilic asthma, researchers said. “Prior to this study, many suspected that childhood obesity was causing this form of asthma,” said senior researcher Dr. David Hill, an attending physician in allergy and immunology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “However, we were observing neutrophilic asthma in children who weren’t obese, which is why we suspected there might be another mechanism,” Hill said in a news release. “What we found in both preclinical work and studies in children was that diets containing certain saturated long chain fatty acids can cause neutrophilic asthma independent from obesity.” Neutrophilic asthma is more difficult to treat than allergic asthma, researchers said in background notes, and more likely to cause symptoms severe enough to land patients in a hospital. Work with laboratory mice revealed that stearic acid can cause an accumulation of lung macrophages, a type of white blood cell that coordinates immune function during inflammation, researchers report. On the… read on > read on >

Enjoy a pint of beer, a glass of wine or a dram of whiskey? Then make sure you have some healthy eats and a good dose of exercise on the side, a new study says. A healthy diet and regular physical activity can protect your liver at least partially from the harmful effects of alcohol, researchers reported Aug. 27 in the Journal of Hepatology. Any amount of daily alcohol intake or binge drinking increases a person’s risk of death from liver damage, researchers found. But a good diet and more exercise significantly blunt that risk, even if you’re a heavy drinker or binge drinker, results revealed. “We found that adherence to high levels of physical activity and/or diet quality was associated with a lower risk of liver-related death across all drinking patterns,” said senior researcher Dr. Naga Chalasani, a professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. In the U.S., more than half (53%) of adults regularly imbibe, and about 178,000 people die from excess alcohol use each year, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 60,000 participants in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1984 and 2018. The survey asked people about their alcohol use, diet and exercise. Researchers defined heavy drinking as more than three drinks per day… read on > read on >