WASHINGTON - Many people in Medicare with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions stop taking their medicine when faced with picking up the entire cost of their prescriptions, researchers say.

About 3.4 million older and disabled people hit a gap, known as the doughnut hole, in their Medicare drug coverage in 2007. When that happened, they had to pay the entire costs of their medicine until they spent $3,850 out of pocket. Then, insurance coverage would kick in again.

MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Cleviprex (clevidipine butyrate), an injected drug to treat high blood pressure.

Produced by the Medicines Co. of Parsippany, N.J., the drug is to be prescribed when oral high blood pressure drugs aren't possible or desired. Unlike many older drugs for high blood pressure, Cleviprex doesn't accumulate in the body since it is metabolized in the tissues and blood, not the kidneys or liver, the drug maker said in a news release.

Clinical Trials Update: July 23, 2008

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:

Neuropathy

If you have a diagnosis of orthostatic hypotension associated with: Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, pure autonomic failure, dopamine beta hydroxylase deficiency, or non-diabetic autonomic neuropathy -- and have a documented fall in blood pressure within three minutes of standing -- you may qualify for this study.

The research site is in Dallas, Texas.

More information

Hot tempered angry individuals have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, doctors say.

Chronic anger, whether one’s wrath is bottled inside or spurting out onto others, can lead to high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart disease.

Considered one of the controllable risk factors of heart disease, the American Psychological Association says, anger can increase heart rate, blood pressure, and the energy hormones, adrenaline and noradrenalin.

WEDNESDAY, July 16 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in three Americans suffers from high blood pressure -- more than 73 million adults.

But half of them -- women -- face unique challenges in controlling their blood pressure.

For instance, women with high blood pressure are more likely to be obese and have high cholesterol levels. They're also less likely than men to meet target goals for their blood pressure. And they're also less likely than men to receive medications such as aspirin, blood pressure-lowering drugs or cholesterol-lowering drugs, compared to men, recent research found.

I will never forget the evening my husband and I were out to dinner and next to us was a couple we both decided were on their first date. Both of them would easily fit in the obese category. They started talking about working out and one said to the other that there really was no point because to get any benefits you had to work way too hard. Of course, my husband had to hold me down as I wanted to crawl over our table and set the story straight.

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- Young adults with the borderline high blood pressure called prehypertension are more likely later in life to have calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, a new study finds.

"They're too young to have very many heart attacks and strokes," lead author Dr. Mark J. Pletcher said of the 3,560 participants whose ages were 18 to 30 when the study started. "But looking at coronary calcium is a way of measuring atherosclerosis, which is a strong predictor of heart attacks."

THURSDAY, July 3 (HealthDay News) -- Doing mental or physical work while exhausted may harm your health, a new study shows.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that fatigued people had bigger spikes in blood pressure than well-rested people while doing a memorization test.

I read one of EmpowHer's leading news stories on a recent study out of Yale on preeclampsia and the effect of dark chocolate. I must say I'm a little skeptical about the study.