Effects of an oral nitric oxide supplement on functional capacity and blood pressure in adults with prehypertension.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Nitric Oxide in the context of low blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of oral NO supplementation on blood pressure in patients with clinical prehypertension.

Why It Was Studied

Nitric oxide (NO) is an integral molecule especially important in the regulation of the cardiovascular system.

Literature indicates that the number of studies continues to grow with regard to the effects of NO on cardiovascular disease and hypertension. "Prehypertension" is the clinical stage leading to hypertension.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, placebo-controlled and pilot.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Nitric Oxide and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Nitric Oxide, giving a reference point.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Nitric Oxide study would be practical.

What Was Measured

This pilot phase study evaluated the effect of an orally disintegrating lozenge that generates NO in the oral cavity on blood pressure, functional capacity, and quality of life.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Blood Pressure, Dietary Supplements, Hypertension, Nitric Oxide and Prehypertension.

Author keywords: quality of life.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and pilot study of Nitric Oxide in people with low blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension.

The publication is from 2015 (Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology and therapeutics), a journal based in United States.

More context: Low blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension research.