The aim of the present study was to determine the disease course of hypertensive male university students

Information regarding daily intake of sodium (Na) is useful for both normotensive and hypertensive subjects. We measured urinary excretion of sodium (U-Na) and urinary excretion of potassium (U-K) to estimate daily salt intake in a cohort of health screening subjects in Okinawa, Japan. Urine samples were obtained from 2,411 subjects (1,554 men and 857 women) who were examined on a half-day dry-doc at the Okinawa General Health Maintenance Association (OGHMA). Four hundred and one subjects were examined twice, once between September and November in 1997, and once between September and November in 1998. The mean U-Na was 182 mEq/day for men and 176 mEq/day for women. The mean U-K was 54 mEq/day for men and 50 mEq/day for women. U-Na was higher in young men, and U-K was lower in young women. In both men and women, smokers had a significantly lower Na excretion compared to nonsmokers. Subjects treated for hypertension had a significantly lower Na excretion (173 mEq/day) compared to subjects not treated for hypertension (192 mEq/day). Our findings suggest that Na excretion in screened subjects in Okinawa is lower than the national average. Sodium excretion, however, was higher in young men than in elderly subjects, and K excretion was lower in young women than in elderly subjects. Both trends are disadvantageous for controlling hypertension.

We examined the relation between protein intake and blood pressure in a screened cohort in Okinawa, Japan. A total of 1,299 screened subjects, 885 men and 414 women, were examined at the Okinawa General Health Maintenance Association. Daily intake of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) was estimated from Na, K,

No abstract

We report on an interesting case of longevity in an elderly Japanese woman whose blood pressure (BP) continued extremely high from her first recording at the age of 38 years to her first hospitalization at the age of 81. BP recordings taken by her physician indicated mostly severe or occasionally mild hypertension (HT): between 260/130 and 140/76 mmHg. No antihypertensive drugs were taken during the 25 year span between ages 56 and 80. After her physician died, when she was 80, she changed clinicians and was given several kinds of antihypertensive drugs. She began to feel faintness, dizziness, and severe fatigue. At the time of the first hospitalization, no remarkable cerebral or cardiac abnormalities were observed, despite her BP as high as 210/110 mmHg. BP as measured by nurses or the physician in charge were always above 160/80 mmHg. After discharge, she was asked to measure BP by herself at home. These readings were 140-150/70-80 mmHg on the average, indicating a rare case of long-term emotional blood pressure response. The patient died not of a cerebrocardiovascular accident, but of acute renal failure at 95 years of age. Even though her recorded BP was extremely high when measured by medical staff members and still far above the current conventional desired limit of 120 mmHg systolic (S) BP or the earlier limit of 140 mmHg SBP, it was actually acceptable for her retrospectively, insofar as she lived to age 95. Although antihypertensive drug therapy may be helpful in some cases, it may not be necessary in others. Intensive drug therapy may even be harmful for misdiagnosed emotionally HT patients particularly those misdiagnosed with refractory hypertension, when the response to health care professionals may be emotional.