High blood pressure in adolescence is associated with kidney failure in adults, a new study reports. Israeli researchers studied health records of more than 2.6 million healthy 16- to 19-year-old candidates for military service from 1967 to 2013. Over an average follow-up of 20 years, 2,189 developed renal disease requiring dialysis or kidney transplant. About half of the young people with hypertension were overweight or obese, which has been shown to be a risk factor for renal disease. But even after controlling for body mass index and for sex, age and socioeconomic status, they found that hypertension in adolescence doubled the risk for end-stage renal disease in adulthood. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Ban on trans fats may help heart health

New York City's restriction of the amount of trans fats allowed in restaurant food has apparently had the desired effect: it lowered blood levels of trans fatty acids — most often from partially hydrogenated oils — for New Yorkers who dine out. The analysis, in the American Journal of Public Health, used more than 200 randomly selected blood specimens drawn from participants in a larger health study in 2004 and in 2014, before and after the restrictions went into effect in 2006. Blood trans fatty acid (TFAs) levels declined by more than 54 percent nationally between 2000 and 2010. But they declined by 61 percent in New Yorkers who dined out four or more times weekly. "A 2 percent increase in calories from TFAs has been associated with a 23 percent increase in coronary heart disease risk," the authors wrote.

News services