苅尾 七臣

Hypertension, a disease whose prevalence increases with age, induces pathological conditions of ischemic vascular disorders such as cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction due to accelerated arteriosclerosis and circulatory insufficiency of small arteries and sometimes causes hemorrhagic conditions such as cerebral hemorrhage and ruptured aortic aneurysm. On the other hand, as it is said that aging starts with the blood vessels, impaired blood flow associated with vascular aging is the basis for the development of many pathological conditions, and ischemic changes in target organs associated with vascular disorders result in tissue dysfunction and degeneration, inducing organ hypofunction and dysfunction. Therefore, we hypothesized that hypertension is associated with all age-related vascular diseases, and attempted to review the relationship between hypertension and diseases for which a relationship has not been previously well reported. Following our review, we hope that a collaborative effort to unravel age-related diseases from the perspective of hypertension will be undertaken together with experts in various specialties regarding the relationship of hypertension to all pathological conditions. (Figure presented.).

In Asian populations, a high prevalence of stroke, high salt intake and high salt sensitivity, the effects of which are partly augmented by epidemic obesity, are associated with hypertension. These factors are closely associated with resistant hypertension, especially with the disrupted circadian rhythm of blood pressure (BP), that is, non-dipper and riser patterns. An ambulatory BP profile-based strategy combined with medication and devices (renal denervation and baroreceptor activation therapy) would help to achieve 'perfect 24-h BP control', consisting of strict reduction of the 24-h BP level, restoring disrupted circadian BP rhythms and reducing excess BP variability. Such BP control would protect high-risk patients with resistant hypertension against systemic hemodynamic atherothrombotic syndrome (which involves systemic atherothrombotic vascular diseases and target-organ damage, advanced by the composite risks of pulsatile hemodynamic stress from central pressure and blood flow and by thrombometabolic risk factors). Information technology-based home sleep BP pressure monitoring may be useful for assessing the risk during sleep in high-risk patients with resistant hypertension and sleep apnea syndrome. © 2013 The Japanese Society of Hypertension.

In ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring, nighttime BP has a superior ability to predict hypertensive target organ damage than awake BP. We evaluated whether nighttime BP, assessed by a home BP monitor, was associated with hypertensive target organ damage. We measured clinic BP, out-of-clinic BP including nighttime home BP, and the urinary albumin: creatinine ratio (UACR) in 854 patients who had cardiovascular risk factors. Nighttime home BP was measured at 2: 00, 3: 00, and 4: 00 am, in addition to clinic, awake ambulatory, nighttime ambulatory, and awake home BP. Nighttime home systolic BP (SBP) was slightly higher than nighttime ambulatory SBP (difference, 2.6 mm Hg; P<0.001). Clinic (r=0.186), awake ambulatory (r=0.173), nighttime ambulatory (r=0.194), awake home (r=0.298), and nighttime home (r=0.311) SBPs were all associated with log-transformed UACR (all P<0.001). The correlation coefficient for the relationship between nighttime home SBP and log-transformed UACR was significantly greater than that for the relationship between nighttime ambulatory SBP and log-transformed UACR (P<0.001). The goodness of fit of the association between SBP and UACR was improved by adding nighttime home SBP to the other SBPs (P<0.001). Nighttime home diastolic BP also improved the goodness-of-fit of the association between diastolic BP and UACR (P=0.001). Similar findings were observed for the left ventricular mass index in the subgroup (N=594). In conclusion, nighttime home BP is slightly different from (but comparable to) nighttime ambulatory BP. The addition of nighttime home BP to other BP measures improves the association of BP with hypertensive target organ damage. (Hypertension. 2012; 60: 921-928.) center dot Online Data Supplement