Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), as a consequence of atherosclerosis in the arteria of the limbs, affects one of ten Swedes older than 65. PAD can develop slowly and silently, and involves an increased risk for cardiac infarction and stroke. Measurement of the patient´s ankle blood pressure and calculation of the ankle-brachial index is an evidence-based method to discover PAD. Objective: To investigate how district nurses and general practitioners perceive this method of examination and experience possible obstacles to why it is not more commonly applied at primary health care centres. Method: Data collected by semi-structured interviews have been processed by qualitative content analysis with a manifest onset.

Aim: The aim is to create a review that examines different forms of massage therapy and their effects on hypertension.Method: Literature review of 10 scientific articles on the subject of massage and its effects on blood pressure. The literature searches were made with PubMed and Cinahl using the keywords "massage therapy", "effects" and "blood pressure".Results: The articles showed that massage had a positive effect in lowering blood pressure. This could be explained by greater extent of relaxation in the participants investigated and an increased activity of parasympaticus and reduced secretion of stress hormones. The articles do not agree on what form of massage therapy is most effective in lowering blood pressure and it is uncertain for how long the effect can remain.Conclusion: Massage is usually seen as a treatment without scientific basis. There is evidence that suggests that massage therapy is an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure.

Aim and Hypotheses The aim of the study was to investigate how episodic hypoxia affects resting blood pressure and the acute blood pressure response in healthy older adults. The following hypotheses were formulated for analysis in the study: Blood pressure increases acutely in healthy older adults during exposure to 150 minutes of hypoxia with SpO? 80%. Resting blood pressure decreases in healthy older adults after 15 repeated exposures of 150 minutes of hypoxia with SpO? 80% over a period of three to four weeks.

Aim: The aim is to create a review that examines different forms of massage therapy and their effects on hypertension.Method: Literature review of 10 scientific articles on the subject of massage and its effects on blood pressure. The literature searches were made with PubMed and Cinahl using the keywords "massage therapy", "effects" and "blood pressure".Results: The articles showed that massage had a positive effect in lowering blood pressure. This could be explained by greater extent of relaxation in the participants investigated and an increased activity of parasympaticus and reduced secretion of stress hormones. The articles do not agree on what form of massage therapy is most effective in lowering blood pressure and it is uncertain for how long the effect can remain.Conclusion: Massage is usually seen as a treatment without scientific basis. There is evidence that suggests that massage therapy is an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), as a consequence of atherosclerosis in the arteria of the limbs, affects one of ten Swedes older than 65. PAD can develop slowly and silently, and involves an increased risk for cardiac infarction and stroke. Measurement of the patient´s ankle blood pressure and calculation of the ankle-brachial index is an evidence-based method to discover PAD. Objective: To investigate how district nurses and general practitioners perceive this method of examination and experience possible obstacles to why it is not more commonly applied at primary health care centres. Method: Data collected by semi-structured interviews have been processed by qualitative content analysis with a manifest onset.

The purpose of the present study was to study if the systemic blood pressure in cats significant increases due to stress associated with a visit to a veterinarian clinic. We also wanted to investigate the clinical utility of two different methods for indirect Blood pressure measurements in cats by assessing how easy they were to use and how reliable measurements they provided. The methods that were used were oscillometric (Memo Diagnostic) and ultrasound-doppler technique (Minidop). The blood pressure was measured in both clinical environment and home environment. Fifty cats were used in the study, from which measurements were impossible to obtain in one cat.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) it?s a clinical condition that includes obesity, regional adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and laminitis. A similar syndrome exists in human medi-cine, the metabolic syndrome (MS), were systemic hypertension also is a prominent fea-ture. The systemic hypertension seen in humans with MS is partly due to a vascular endo-thelial dysfunction with an enhanced endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediated vasoconstriction. There are indications that systemic hypertension might be a feature in EMS as well but if ET-1 is involved in the development of the systemic hypertension in horses is not known.

The aim of the work was to investigate the possibility to combine information from PPG and bio-acoustic technology to extract information that is related to the blood pressure. The measurements have been carried out with several different configurations. First the relation between arterial sounds and the PPG-signal was studied. After those measurements with both PPG and the bio- acoustic technique was concluded on people in different positions and after riding a bike. The goal was to vary the blood pressure.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease is a common disease in older dogs of small- to medium-size breeds. The mitral valve, and less commonly the tricuspid valve may be affected which causes them to leak blood from the ventricle to the atrium of the heart during systole. With increasing severity of mitral valve leakage the forward stroke volume ejected into the aorta decreases, which may lead to an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary vein resulting in pulmonary edema. A decrease in cardiac output may lead to a decrease in blood pressure, but the body may respond in order to normalize the blood pressure. Franzén showed in 2007 that the systolic blood pressure was increased in dogs with severe mitral insufficiency.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Does low fat dairy products reduce blood pressure?Author: Emma Bergman and Naman LimaniSupervisor: Lena HulthénExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 26, 2014Background: It is estimated that at least a third of the population in Sweden have a high blood pressure with genetics, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity as the main contributing causes. High blood pressure is one of the greatest risk factors to develop cardiovascular diseases, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. Milk is a nutritional food product and previous research suggests that low fat dairy products may have blood pressure lowering effect.Objective: The aim was to examine the scientific basis of how low fat dairy products affect blood pressure.Search strategy: Twelve searches were conducted on PubMed and Scopus, where the chosen search terms were combined to produce a broad search as possible in the particular area. The search terms used were dairy, dairy products, milk, blood pressure and hypertension.Selection criteria: Studies on normotensive or hypertensive individuals who received low fat dairy products were included.

Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Alpha-linolenic acid from flaxseed oil and effects on blood pressure ? A systematic reviewAuthor: Christine Hårdfelt och Liduina van SitterenSupervisor: Helen LindqvistExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: April 9th, 2014Background: High blood pressure is strongly associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke. ALA-fatty acids have previously been associated with decreased blood pressure. Flaxseed oil is very rich in these fatty acids and has also been highlighted as an affordable and sustainable source.Objective: To investigate whether ALA-fatty acids from flaxseed oil may affect blood pressure in people with high risk for cardiovascular disease.Search strategy: Two searches in PubMed and Scopus were performed. The sample was specified by using specific keywords.Selection criteria: The criteria for inclusion of studies required that flaxseed oil was compared with a control and that blood pressure was measured as an endpoint.

Flow measurement is one of the greatest challenges in order to calculate efficiency in hydropower. Most hydropower plants in Sweden use differential pressure methods for flow measurement. These methods are dependent on constant conditions in the waterways. A change in these conditions, like turbine improvements, prevents differential pressure methods to verify efficiency improvements. Since efficiency improvements can?t be verified by one measurement system, another method, which isn?t affected by changing conditions, can be used.

The objective of this study was to study the agreement between two methods of indirect bloodpressure measurement in dogs and cats and to establish the within-method variation for the methods. The utility and practicality in the clinical setting were also evaluated for the both methods. The techniques evaluated were the oscillometric method and the Doppler ultrasonographic method. Thirtytwo dogs and 26 cats were used in the study and seven dogs and five cats out of these animals had diseases that may effect the bloodpressure. Bloodpressure was measured in both anesthetized and in conscious animals.

Hematology-instruments that analyze blood cells can at specific cases be followed by manual counting with a hemocytometer. The plastic hemocytometer which has a fixed coverslip and is assigned for disposable use, appears to reduce the problems arising from the use of the traditional glass hemocytometer, for instance coverslip-application difficulty and dust particles. Capillary whole blood sampling may be useful for patients at the emergency department and in addition, a smaller volume of blood is taken compared to venous blood sampling. This study will focus on the platelet- and leukocyte count (PLT and WBC) in venous and capillary blood, in order to compare the plastic- and glass hemocytometers with Sysmex XN-2000 (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan), and verify if capillary whole blood sampling can be used for the measurement of these hematological parameters. 30 subjects donated both capillary- and venous blood samples and these blood samples were analyzed with glass- and plastic hemocytometers with Sysmex XN-2000 as the reference method.

The purpose of the present study was to explore if blood lactate levels are increased in bitches with pyometra, and if the lactate measurement could be used as a prognostic indicator and to determine outcome. The present study included 16 bitches with pyometra that were admitted to the University Animal Hospital, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. For comparison, a control group consisting of 14 healthy staffowned bitches was also evaluated. In all bitches, a physical examination was performed and blood samples for analysis of haematological and biochemical parameters were obtained. In all bitches with pyometra, surgical ovariohysterectomy was performed and a uterine sample for bacteriological culture and identification was collected.