Did You Really Take Your High Blood Pressure Pills?

Exercise, Not Vitamin D, Is Better Bet To Prevent Falls

Sharon Fulson tries to keep her hypertension controlled, but she sometimes skips a dose of her medicine.​  Blake Farmer/WPLN   Drug Test Spurs Frank Talk Between Hypertension Patients And Doctors  High blood pressure is often called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms. But the medicines to lower blood pressure often have bothersome side effects, Nashville Public Radio’s Blake Farmer reports.   It’s one reason people skip the pills or stop taking them altogether. To make matters worse, some patients are reluctant to disappoint their doctors by fessing up.   There’s now a $100 urine test that doctors can use to quickly assess whether patients have been taking their medicines for blood pressure and cholesterol.   The results can start a conversation about why someone hasn't stuck with their prescription. Dr. Bryan Doherty in Dickson, Tenn., says one patient who had lapsed conceded that the cost of the medicine was a problem. "I think there was a degree of embarrassment there, potentially, or a feeling of letting me down in some way — something that had not come up in a 25-minute initial encounter when we had spoken before," Doherty says.   Ilana Kohn/Getty Images   Of Monkey Calls And Men Scientists at Georgetown University have identified a two-step process that helps our brains learn to first recognize, then categorize new sounds even when the differences are subtle.   NPR’s Jon Hamilton reports that the researchers did it by getting volunteers to learn to recognize the calls of rhesus monkeys.   How people in the study did this "suggests there are general principles at work here of how the brain makes sense of the world," says Maximilian Riesenhuber, a neuroscience professor at Georgetown and an author of the study.   RUSS ROHDE/Getty Images/Cultura RF   To Prevent A Fall, Work Up A Sweat If you want to reduce the risk of falling as you get older, regular exercise looks like the best prescription. "There were a range of exercise interventions studied, all of which seemed to be effective," says Dr. Alex Krist, vice chairperson of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Most of the studies evaluated by the task force asked participants to exercise three times a week for about a year. "Overall, there was a 10 to 20 percent reduction in the risk of falls for people who completed the exercise programs," Krist tells NPR’s Allison Aubrey. The evidence for vitamin D to prevent falls wasn’t clear, however. So the influential task force recommended exercise but not vitamin D for fall prevention, except in older people who are deficient in the vitamin. This seems like a good time for a walk! Your Shots editor, Scott Hensley   You received this message because you're subscribed to our Health emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002