This enables the measuring accuracy of the blood pressure watch to be increased by more than 70 per cent. Clinical trials of the device are currently under way. The first measurements have already been taken in parallel with a catheter procedure - with very promising results.
After menopause, a woman's risk of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases increases greatly; the risk increases significantly faster for women after hysterectomy, perhaps because the uterus produces chemicals that help regulate blood pressure.
The mechanism of hypertension related to rHuEPO remains uncertain. An increase in systemic vascular resistance occurs in all patients, whether or not BP increases. This is due largely to increased blood viscosity and reversal of hypoxic vasodilatation, but other factors may also contribute. A lack of adequate reduction in cardiac output distinguishes patients in whom BP increases, and this in turn may be due to abnormal cardiovascular autoregulation in these patients.