One of the most important determinants of blood pressure is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which is named for three of the compounds involved in this complex series of biochemical reactions. Although the RAAS plays a role in daily fluctuations in blood pressure, it is also a key player in longer-term regulation, and in hypertension.Here’s how the RAAS system works. Angiotensinogen is a protein produced in the liver on a continuous basis. Renin is an enzyme that is released by the kidneys under conditions of stress, exercise, or certain changes in diet. When angiotensinogen and renin join in the bloodstream, they form angiotensin I. As the blood carrying angiotensin I travels through the lungs, it reacts with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) to form angiotensin II. Angiotensin II has two actions. First, it causes the muscular walls of the arteries, and particularly the arterioles, to contract. This decreases their diameter and drives up blood pressure. Second, angiotensin II prompts the adrenal glands (located on top of the kidneys) to release aldosterone. Aldosterone is a hormone that signals the kidneys to keep more sodium and water in the bloodstream and stop excreting them through the urine. This results in increased blood volume and higher blood pressure. The RAAS is crucial for your health and well-being. Remember, the diameter of your blood vessels and your blood pressure are in constant flux as the needs of your body change from moment to moment, and this is one of the mechanisms that oversees these normal variations. However, when the RAAS pathway becomes overactive, blood pressure is consistently elevated. This is estimated to be the primary cause of high blood pressure in about a third of all people with hypertension.*16/313/5*

Not unexpectedly accompanying adolescent drinking there are also alcohol problems. To cite just a few of the statistics from the ever-growing pile:In the 13 to 17 year age group, it is estimated there are three million problem drinkers, and over three hundred thousand teenage alcoholicsDrinking is a significant problem for between 10% and 20% of [...]

Instead of admitting the fact that the segregation and differentiation of the sexes is the cause of most of our marital unhappiness, we console ourselves with idle proverbs such as “True love never runs smoothly,” or “Man cannot live with and cannot live without woman.” Indeed, the antipathies between the sexes are so much taken [...]

” I have no time”. You can certainly spare 20 minutes, thrice a week.”I’m too old”. That’s not true. You’re never too old to exercise.”I’m on my feet all day. I don’t need any more exercise”. Unfortunately, just being ‘on your feet’ is not enough exercise for anyone. You need to walk or exercise for [...]

Morphine is the drug of choice for the management of severe pain in advanced cancer but opioids are frequently denied to patients who could benefit from them.     Patient Opiophobia-Patients and their families may also have fears or express concerns about morphine therapy.     Prescription of morphine is interpreted by some patients as a message [...]

In the DCCT, renal involvement (nephropathy) was assessed by ti urine collections at baseline and yearly, with calculations of 24-hour urinary albumin excretion and creatinine clearances. Intensive therapy reduced the mean adjusted risk of microalbuminuria, defined as > 4C albumin/24 hours, by 34% in the primary prevention group (p = 0 and by 43% in [...]

The legal profession will not be the same. Currently, for instance, actions are taken against polluters when clusters of disease are linked to the release of disease-causing compounds. Consider the case of Keil Chemical in Lake County, Indiana. In 1991 records indicated that Keil Chemical released about nine hundred tons of a potentially carcinogenic solvent [...]

Memory problems are a well known symptom of heavy metal poisoning. Many of us are exposed to unsafe levels of these metals, particularly mercury, which is a food contaminant. There may be many more people suffering the toxic effects of heavy metal poisoning than we now recognize. Do you have any of these memory problems?Do [...]

More than one million pregnancies occur each year among American teenage females, which is equivalent to one adolescent pregnancy beginning every 35 seconds. Since the majority of these pregnancies are unplanned and unwanted, it is no surprise that they frequently create considerable psychological anguish, serious economic consequences, and even health risks that are too often [...]

What Jeffery Amherst actually did or did not do is unclear. Written records suggest that this story may have been based on some advice Amherst gave in his capacity as Britain’s commander in chief in North America. In 1763, Fort Pitt, an outpost at the western edge of colonial Pennsylvania, was in danger of being [...]