Spotlight on: High blood pressure
At least 1.8 million Swedes have high blood pressure, so-called hypertension. But even though blood pressure medication is considered one of the most important life-saving treatments, many people go around with high blood pressure without knowing it. The only way to find out your blood pressure is by getting it measured. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet work closely with the health service to improve both prevention and treatment of hypertension.
Photo: Jens Magnusson.
Are you keeping track of your blood pressure?
The main risk factor for developing high blood pressure is age. Even in middle age, your vessels may have difficulty keeping up. But a lot of people who have high blood pressure don’t even know it.
Beetroot juice lowers pressure
Can you lower your blood pressure by drinking beetroot juice? Yes, you actually can. Mattias Carlström, a docent in Physiology and a research group leader, explains the connection.
Disease or risk factor?
Is high blood pressure a disease or a risk factor for disease? Confusingly, it’s both.
Blood pressure – true or false?
Is it really true that licorice raises blood pressure and that blood pressure medication increases the risk of becoming seriously ill in covid-19? The researchers arrange the concepts.
“We know too little about blood pressure in atrial fibrillation”
Joakim Olbers is a cardiologist and has recently presented a thesis on blood pressure in atrial fibrillation, in which the rhythm of the heart becomes irregular.
Photo: Oscar Omne“I call myself a professional stroke survivor”
After Annelie had a stroke as a pregnant woman, she decided to set goals. One of them was to be able to run again.
Photo: Oscar Omne“They say my high blood pressure is hereditary”
Camilla has had high blood pressure since the age of twenty, despite a healthy lifestyle. The explanation may be that it is hereditary.
Photo: Oscar Omne“The healthcare system sends an unclear message”
Peter takes five different blood pressure medications due to high stress levels, but thinks that the information he received from the healthcare system is unclear.
More about heart and vessels
Photo: Stefan ZimmermanHis heart beats for the forgotten
Lars Lund is troubled that many patients with heart failure do not receive the care they need. Through his research, he is attempting to highlight the problem in a systematic way – and find solutions. Meet the doctor who is passionate about improving cardiac care for all.
Photo: Björn ÖbergSpotlight on Cardiac Arrest
As few as one in ten survive a cardiac arrest outside of hospital. But researchers have a whole battery of studies underway in the attempt to optimise all parts of the chain of survival.