Hypertension

The present day health system focuses more on diagnostics, less on treatment and least on prevention. The escalating costs of diagnostic tests and interventions have made today’s health care out of reach for common man. There is a lot of loud thinking in the west and it has rightly scaled down from evidence centric approach to patient centric approach. Al Hijamah (Cupping Therapy) is an important tool for treatment of various diseases. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Al-Hijamah on Zaghtudam Qawi Ibtedae (Primary Hypertension). This study was a randomized open standard controlled study done on 50 patients. Male Patients of age group 20-60 years were randomly allocated in two groups comprising 30 and 20 patients in test and control groups respectively. Patients with primary mild to moderate hypertension ranging from systolic pressure 140 to 159 mm Hg and diastolic pressure 90 to 109 mm Hg were enrolled. In test group, Al Kahil (the interscapular region excluding vertebral column) of the patient was selected for application of Hijamah and the procedure was performed on four consecutive days. In control group, one tablet of 25 mg Atenolol was given orally once daily. Subjective parameters viz. headache, dizziness, fatigue, palpitation, breathlessness and loss of libido were evaluated in each follow up. Significant improvement was observed in SBP and DBP in the test group. Inter group comparison shows p<0.001significant w. r. t to control group. No side effect is observed in the test group. 

Hypertension (HTN) is the most common chronic condition dealt with primary care physicians and other health practitioners and is arguably the most important modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. The aim of our current study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension on age it is more prone to be started now a day, alongside the spectrum of HTN in respect with gender categorization. This study was carried out in the cardiology clinics as well as government hospitals and others at four cities in Bangladesh. From this survey the outcome was found that 39% of 45-60 years and 27% of 35-45 years aged was hypertensive patient, of which 54.83% were male and 45.17% were female. However, HTN control rates of patients cared for longitudinally by cardiologist, it was observed that beta blocker was present in 45% mono therapy prescriptions, among which only propranolol was for 34% cases and losartan was 20% at second. Combination therapy was also found to prescribe where olmesartan plus atenolol was 19% and amlodipine plus atenolol was prescribed for 17% of hypertensive patients. 

Hypertension commonly referred to as ‘high blood pressure’, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated. In this modern era several antihypertensive drugs are available. But these medicines have many side effects such as palpitation, tachycardia, hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, increased risk of developing diabetes, and reduced renal function and life threatening complications. Globally about 80% of the population using herbal medicines for their primary health care, particularly in developing countries. In herbal medicine the treatment for essential hypertension can bring the blood pressure level in to the normal range. WHO recently encourages, utilization of herbs and traditional herbal medicines, for national healthcare programs, as they are easily available at lower cost and comparatively safe medicines.In this article such herbs used in Siddha medicine have been studied and discussed for the therapeutic management for hypertension. In Siddha system the disease hypertension was described as Rakthaazhutham, Rakthathikkam, Azhutham. RakthakothippunoiandNaadiirukkam.All herbs reviewed in this article are useful in the treatment of hypertension. Among studied herbs, Rough chaff(Acyranthesaspera), Indianpennywort (Centella asiatica),Coriander(Coriandrumsativum),Cumin (Cuminumcyminum),Cardamom (Elettaria cardamom),Roughbryon (Melotheriamaderaspatn),Pepper (Piper nigrum), Arjun tree(Terminaliaarjuna), Land caltrops (Tribulusterrestri), Winter cherry (Withaniasomnifera), Ginger (Zingiberofficinalis) has Antihypertensive effect and cardiac tonic. Ginger (Allium sativum) and Deodar (Cedrusdeodara)reduces the blood cholesterol level and decreases the hypertension. Water lily (Nympheaalba)and Long pepper Piper longumshowed ACE inhibitor activity and reduces the blood pressure.

The reports of longitudinal study of blood pressure in childhood suggest an important role for early detection and enhancing a better understanding of the natural history of elevated blood pressure. Many of the risk factors associated with development of hypertension are preventable. Early identification of children at risk for hypertension is important to prevent serious complications in future adulthood. The present study was aimed to determine the percentile of systolic and diastolic blood pressures and to investigate distribution of blood pressure and its association with anthropometric parameters. A cross-sectional study among 300 school children (in the age group of 3-12 years), selected by stratified random sampling was conducted in Meerut. Personal data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire. Blood pressure and height were measured through standardized techniques. The distributions of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were examined. Mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 16 software.

Hypertension is a common disease and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Occurrence of oxidation and peroxidation is one of the unfavorable consequences of hypertension on molecular systems. Large epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that subjects with hypertension have a marked increase in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, hypomagnesemia, hypertriglyceridemia.  Paraoxonase1(PON1),an HDL bounded enzyme, protects LDL from oxidative stress by destroying biologically active phospholipids . Human serum PON1 activity was shown to be inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and low PON1 activities were observed in atherosclerotic, hypercholesterolemic and hypertensive patients .

The present work aims to prepare fast dissolving films of Losartan Potassium with purpose of developing rapid onset of action, which is very convenient for administration without using water. Fast dissolving films are meant to be dissolved in saliva and remain in oral cavity until swallowed. The films were prepared by solvent casting method and characterized by UV, DSC studies. The plasticizer concentration was selected on the basis of flexibility, tensile strength and stickiness of the film. In the present study polyethylene glycol was used as plasticizes. Fast dissolving films were evaluated for drug content and the drug loading capacity. The dissolution profile and folding endurance were found to be satisfactory. The disintegration time of formulation F3 film was lowest (30 sec), so they release drug faster than other formulations. A drug-excipients interaction was performed by DSC and FTIR; results were shown that there was no interaction between drug and excipients used. In vitro release mechanism was evaluated by subjecting  the dissolution data to various kinetic models and the drug release was found to best fit the Korsemeyer-peppas model. Hence it is concluded that Losartan Potassium fast dissolving films are successfully developed and evaluated. Key Words: Fast dissolving films, Losartan Potassium, Solvent casting method, Hypertension