Obstructive Sleep Apnea & High Blood Pressure
A growing amount of evidence suggests that obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is the most common cause of secondary hypertension; however, an estimated 70-90 % of cases go undiagnosed.
Meditech apneABP combines ambulatory blood pressure (ABP), pulse oximetry (SpO2) and actigraphy monitoring in one easy-to-use device, so it can be considered almost a miniature ambulatory sleep lab, the perfect state-of-the-art tool for screening patients with suspected OSAS.
What is OSAS?
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is found by a number of studies to be present in as much as 12-14 % of the adult population. An obstructive sleep apneic episode is usually defined as lack of oronasal airflow for a period of at least 10 seconds during sleep, caused by pharyngeal obstruction, with blood oxygen desaturation, preceded by growing breathing efforts and followed by signs of full or partial awakening. OSAS is defined as at least 5 such episodes per hour of sleep.
Relationship between OSAS & Hypertension
Up to 70-80% of OSAS patients are hypertensive; approximately 40% of hypertensive patients have obstructive sleep apnea. OSAS is shown to be present in as much as 60% of therapy-resistant hypertension cases.
A growing amount of evidence suggests that OSAS is the most common type of secondary hypertension; however, an estimated 70-90 percent of cases go undiagnosed.
Untreated OSAS
OSAS independently elevates the risk of cardiovascular mortality by a factor of 10 to 23 times to normal. It causes a 7 to 10 times growth in cerebrovascular mortality and a 15 to 20 times growth in the risk of sleep-related traffic and work accidents. It is a major contributing factor in a large part of early mental deficit symptoms. Untreated severe OSAS lowers cumulative survival of patients by 30% in 5 years from diagnosis; and by 40% in 7 years.
Sleep Labs May Not Be Available
Diagnostic protocols require patients with suspected OSAS to be referred to fully equipped sleep labs which may not be readily available either in a convenient time range or in a nearby institute. Therefore, an effective and easily available screening method is really important.
Meditech apneABP - the Innovative 3in1 Device
The new apneABP monitor from Meditech combines ambulatory blood pressure, pulse oximeter and actigraphy monitoring in one device for the diagnosis of hypertension and sleep-related breathing disorders. Avoid costly and time-consuming examinations in sleep labs with apneABP, the perfect screening tool for patients with suspected OSAS.
Introductory prices are available!
For more information, please contact Meditech!
Blood Pressure Load – Is it Really Useful?
Blood pressure (BP) load, the percentage of abnormally elevated blood pressure readings, may not be a useful clinical measure of BP related cardiovascular risks, because of its inability to quantify the degree of BP rise above threshold.
Blood Pressure Load (hyperbaric impact) shows how long blood pressure is higher than normal during ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and how much it is higher than the upper limit of normotension. (Normal blood pressure is below 135/85 mmHg at daytime and below 120/70 mmHg at nighttime.) BP load is usually considered as a significant part on the report of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
However, a recent study questioned the usefulnes of BP load by having examined the relationship between BP load and target organ damage. Researchers from The Sanghai Institute of Hypertension, China wanted to know whether BP load can be associated, independently of blood pressure level, with target organ damage.
Methods
Yan Li and team involved 869 individuals into the study who were referred for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and were off antihypertensive medication for at least 2 weeks.
BP load was defined as the percentage of daytime and nighttime SBP/DBP readings at least 135/85 and at least 120/70 mmHg, respectively.
Measures of target organ damage have also been defined: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) were the most important factors to consider.
Conclusions
BP load is not associated with target-organ damage independently of actual BP level, because it is high in patients with frequent but very mild BP elevations.
Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring 
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being used increasingly in clinical practice as it gives information over and above conventional blood pressure measurement. ABPM benefits include repeated measurements, away from medical environment, over a 24-hour period, included nighttime, a special risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Meditech is a reliable and capable supplier of accurate and validated ambulatory blood pressure monitors from the EU since 1990. For auality at reasonable price contact Meditech!
Meditech to Visit CMEF
Meditech, the expert and reliable manufacturer of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitors and Holter ECG devices is visiting CMEF, Shenzen, China. Free product demonstration and demo ABPM or ECG are available!
The 71st China International Medical Equipment Fair will be held between 17 and 20 April at Shenzen Convention & Exhibition Center. With covering all area in the medical supply chain, CMEF is one of the largest exhibitions in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meditech is specialised in manufacturing PC-based non-invasive cardiovascular devices and related software solutions since 1990 and combines the flexibility of smaller companies with professionalism and expertise.
Meditech focuses on manufacturing the following medical equipment:
1. ambulatory blood pressure monitors
2. Holter ECG monitors
3. Combined ambulatory blood pressure monitor and ECG devices
4. ECG event recorders
If you are looking for an expert, capable and reliable supplier of such medical equipment, contact Meditech. Demo devices, competitive prices are available with FREE software solutions.
African American Women at Greater Risk for High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, a life-threatening condition which may lead to heart attack, kidney disease or stroke, is a major risk factor for all people, but African Americans are at particularly high risk.
High blood pressure in African Americans in the USA is the highest in the world and black women have higher prevalence rates of high blood pressure, obesity, physical inactivity and diabetes than white women.
According to a recent research by C-HIT, the non-profit Connecticut Health Investigative Team, nearly one out of every two African American women living in Connecticut suffers from high blood pressure.
The more frequent prevalence of high blood pressure among black women has genetic, socioeconomic and cultural reasons. 
Genetics
Although genetics put African Americans at greater risk for hypertension, research shows that genetic variations account for only about 20 percent of hypertension and environmental factors are superior when considering the reasons for high blood pressure.
Socioeconomic Factors
People who do not have sufficient nutrition during pregnancy tend to give birth to lower weight babies with stunted kidneys, which can lead to hypertension as they get older.
Cultural Factors
Obesity is one of the major risk factors for hypertension. Four out of five African American women are overweight or obese nationwide, partly because of the fact that black culture does not always celebrate thin women.
Stress is also a risk factor for high blood pressure. African American women are often prioritize their children and family over their own health and sadly, racism and discrimination are still alive and doing well.
Meditech is committed to prevent cardiovascular diseases by manufacturing ambulatory blood pressure monitors, which has been developed to monitor the patient's blood pressure over 24-hour period, away from clinical environment during normal daily activities. 24-hour blood pressure monitoring is superior to conventional office blood pressure monitoring, as it provides repeated blood pressure measurements, included night-time, the period which has increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Interarm Blood Pressure Difference to Increase Cardiovascular Risks
A new research published in the March issue of The American Journal of Medicine found an association between interarm systolic blood pressure and increased future cardiovascular risks.
Elevated blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, a class of diseases that involve the heart, the 
blood vessels or both, which cause 16.7 million deaths per year. Hypertension stresses your blood vessels and affects more than 13 million people in the United States only each year. Hypertension in people less than 50 years old is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. As you get older, your systolic blood pressure becomes a more important predictor of the risk of cardiovascular diease.
Current research involved 3390 participants, all of whom were 40 years old or older. Neither of the patients suffered from cardiovascular disease by default, but researchers found that patients with more than 10 mmHg systolic interarm difference were at much higher risk for future cardiovascular events.
Higher interarm systolic blood pressure difference and higher cardiovascular risk were found to be present in nearly 10% of participants. Risks increased if participants got older, had diabetes mellitus, higher systolic blood pressure and higher cholesterol level.
On the basis of these findings, investigators suggest practitioners should consider including blood pressure readings in both arms in order to get the most accurate readings and detect any differences in interarm blood pressure levels. „Even modest differences in clinically-measured systolic blood pressure in the upper extremities reflect an increase in cardiovascular risk," says Ido Weinberg, MD, Institute for Heart Vascular and Stroke Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Meditech Ltd. the original manufacturer of 24hr ambulatory blood pressure monitors is committed to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Elevated blood pressure is a risk factor for coronary heart disease and the single most important risk factor for stroke. Meditech ABPM-05 ambulatory blood pressure monitor is a perfect tool to diagnose and control hypertension.