The FDA fast-tracked the approval process for a new generic valsartan product (Diovan) amid an ongoing shortage of the blood pressure and heart failure medication.

A napping habit could lower blood pressure to a similar extent as other lifestyle modifications and some drugs, according to research scheduled to be presented March 18 at the American College of Cardiology’s scientific sessions in New Orleans.

The SPRINT trial suggested a more aggressive blood pressure-lowering target reduced the rate of cardiovascular events in hypertensive people, but a new secondary analysis of the trial indicates such an approach may actually be harmful for smokers.

A smartphone’s camera and flashlight features can detect changes in blood flow and identify type 2 diabetes with accuracy comparable to traditional, clinic-based risk scores, new research suggests.

In its first scientific statement on accurately measuring blood pressure in 14 years, the American Heart Association gave a stronger recommendation for oscillometric devices and updated the evidence surrounding ambulatory and home blood pressure monitoring techniques.

Three-quarters of patients who are diabetic and undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery experience remission of the disease within a year of their procedure, Reuters reported of a Danish study March 1.

A literature review out of West Virginia University suggests diabetics or those at risk for diabetes and metabolic syndrome could lower that risk by sticking to a largely plant-based diet.

An ongoing FDA investigation of generic angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) drugs used to treat hypertension and heart failure found higher-than-acceptable levels of the carcinogen N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA) in recent batches of losartan potassium tablets, prompting a voluntary recall of 87 lots, the agency announced March 1. NMBA is the third different carcinogenic impurity recently discovered in ARBs.