Blood pressure
A newer drug slowed kidney decline in people whose damage came from blood pressure, not diabetes
Kidney trials are built around diabetes, so the second-largest group has been treated on borrowed evidence. Within a trial of 1,584 patients, the 459 with blood-pressure-driven damage were examined on their own.
Sep 7, 2026
Each 20-point drop in blood pressure tracked 24% fewer kidney failure deaths
Kidney disease kills more people in Mexico than almost anywhere, and blood pressure was suspected rather than measured. Following 133,470 adults in Mexico City, the relationship ran in a straight line with no threshold to hide under.
Sep 2, 2026
Sitting at the top of the 'normal' BMI range carried 78% more type 2 diabetes across 1.8 million people
Guidelines draw the risk line at a BMI of 25 and treat everything below it as fine. Pooling 11 cohorts, researchers found people at 22.5 to 24.9 already carried substantially more diabetes than people lower in the same band.
Aug 31, 2026
Pushing potassium to the top of the normal range cut atrial fibrillation events by a third in a trial
A low-normal potassium level is usually left alone. In 1,200 patients with implanted defibrillators, deliberately raising it by 0.3 mmol/L cut hospital admissions and treatments for atrial fibrillation over three years.
Aug 31, 2026
Treating gum disease lowered blood pressure by 4.64 mmHg across 12 randomized trials
A Journal of Periodontology meta-analysis pooled 12 randomized trials of periodontal therapy. Systolic pressure fell 4.64 mmHg, diastolic 1.84, and C-reactive protein dropped alongside them. Evidence certainty was moderate to low.
Aug 28, 2026
Squeezing a handgrip for 12 weeks lowered blood pressure in medicated hypertensive women
Isometric handgrip training is already in clinical guidelines, but its effect during physical stress was untested in women. A Journal of Human Hypertension trial found 12 weeks lowered resting pressure and the pressure reached under strain.
Aug 26, 2026
Brisk walking lowered blood pressure, but the benefit peaked near 460 MET-minutes a week
17 trials and 1,493 people with high blood pressure. Brisk walking lowered both numbers, and the systolic dose-response curve turned back on itself: around 460 MET-minutes a week was the peak, and more did less.
Aug 25, 2026
Heart deaths halved since 1990. The causes swapped places.
A JAMA Cardiology analysis of US deaths from 1990 to 2023 found the heart disease death rate down 58.7%, with smoking and air pollution receding as causes while high body weight and blood sugar climbed.
Aug 3, 2026
Black women developed high blood pressure 9.6 years earlier
A JAMA Network Open study of 15,313 US women found Black women developed hypertension nearly a decade earlier than White women, and the gap persisted regardless of neighborhood conditions.
Jul 27, 2026
Obesity's metabolic risk gap has narrowed in older adults
A Lancet analysis of 978,425 people across seven countries found blood pressure and cholesterol in older adults with obesity now often match those at normal weight, largely because more of them are medicated.
Jul 26, 2026
Childhood fruit juice tracks with high blood pressure at 36
A Circulation study followed 25,749 Americans from age 12 to age 36 and found daily sugary drinks and daily fruit juice both tracked with higher rates of high blood pressure, while whole fruit did not.
Jul 25, 2026
Food-as-medicine groceries improved blood sugar in diabetes
A Circulation randomized trial gave 460 Medicaid-insured adults with type 2 diabetes six months of weekly grocery deliveries and saw a modest but real improvement in long-term blood sugar.
Jul 25, 2026