Internal Medicine

E-mail: mark.supiano@hsc.utah.edu
Address: SOM AB193
Phone: 587-9103

Neurohumoral mechanisms of blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular disorders in older individuals

Dr. Mark Supiano’s research interest is in neurohumoral mechanisms (e.g., sympathetic nervous system and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system function) of blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular disorders in older individuals. Dr. Supiano’s group has identified in prior studies that sympathetic nervous system activity is increased in older hypertensive individuals and that, in general, they are characterized as overweight, having central adiposity, being sensitive to the effect of dietary sodium intake to increase blood pressure (salt sensitivity) and resistant to the effects of insulin to lower blood glucose. Current investigations are focused on another characteristic feature of older hypertensives – vascular stiffness – and the extent to which it is associated with other aspects of the hypertension syndrome.

1/2008