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Minerva

Minerva

BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7417.758 (Published 25 September 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:758

The level of organ damage caused by having high blood pressure is related to the average blood pressure and the variability in 24 hour blood pressure. An Italian study found that, in daily life, people with a diagnosis of hypertension have steeper changes in blood pressure than people with normal blood pressure, and–although the mechanism isn't clear–this is likely to have clinical implications because this variability is more likely to damage vessel walls ( Hypertension 2003;42: 277-82).

Is life easier for people if their spouse was in a hospice before dying? A matched retrospective cohort study in Social Science and Medicine (2003;57: 465-75)involved almost 200 000 elderly couples. The findings suggest that end of life care in a hospice benefits the spouses of patients who succumb to their disease. Fewer bereaved spouses died within 18 months than would normally be expected, with wives doing significantly better than husbands.

It used to be young men who ended up in hospital with injuries, but now it's much more likely to be older women. The authors of an American survey say trauma can no longer be considered a “young person's disease,” and that although the dramatic change might be attributed to an ageing population, the …

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