Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is marked by a repetitive pattern of held breaths and explosive snores throughout the night. It happens when the tongue or throat tissue blocks the airway (sometimes hundreds of times a night) and is known to raise risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. It's more common in people who are overweight and who have heart disease.

Now, a new study finds that a common treatment for OSA—called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP—can lower blood pressure in people with OSA who have or are prone to heart disease. Delivered through a bedside machine, CPAP provides a constant stream of air through a face mask, which prevents the back of the throat from collapsing and blocking airflow.

Taking twice-daily measurements for a few days will tell you what you need to know for optimal blood pressure control.

Here is a checklist to lower your cardiac risk. A healthy weight and a physically active life will get you most of the way there.

As men age, cardiovascular health becomes a higher priority. But for all the recent media frenzy about who should be on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and the continuing obsession with popping fish oil capsules, checking the box on two fundamental lifestyle issues will get you most of the way there.

A promising experimental surgery to combat high blood pressured failed an important test, according to findings reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Called renal denervation (RDN), the procedure involves zapping nerve endings in arteries leading to the kidneys using radio waves. Deadening those nerves tweaks the body's system for regulating blood pressure, which brings about a drop in blood pressure.

Preliminary studies of the technique suggested that it could substantially lower blood pressure in people who were unable to control their pressure sufficiently with medication. RDN is performed by threading a wirelike device (catheter) through the femoral artery in the leg into arteries that supply the kidneys.

Any elevated blood pressure—no matter how slight—might increase stroke risk

We know that having high blood pressure increases our risk for strokes, but what about those of us with prehypertension—a blood pressure reading above 120/80 mm Hg, but below the 140/90 mm Hg threshold that qualifies as high blood pressure? A study in the March 12, 2014, online issue of Neurology found that anyone with a reading of over 120/80 mm Hg needs to be concerned about stroke risk. When researchers analyzed 19 studies of more than 760,000 people with prehypertension, they discovered that people with prehypertension were 66% more likely to have a stroke than those with normal blood pressure, even after adjusting for factors that can increase the odds of having a stroke, like high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. People who were in the higher part of the prehypertension range (130/85 to 139/89) faced a greater stroke risk than those in the lower part of the range (120/80 to 129/84). Although blood pressure medicines aren't recommended for people with prehypertension, diet and exercise can help bring down elevated numbers. "Considering the high proportion of the population who have higher-than-normal blood pressure, successful treatment of this condition could prevent many strokes and make a major difference in public health," study author Dr. Dingli Xu of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, said in a statement.

New drugs help expand treatment options for pulmonary hypertension.

The common, garden-variety type of high blood pressure (what doctors call hypertension) affects vessels throughout the body. But a less common form affects the arteries that carry blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The vessels tighten, become stiff and thick, or develop blood clots.

A big gap between the two readings suggests a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

If your health care provider measures your blood pressure in only one arm, you might be missing some vital information. A big difference between the right and left arm—more than 10 or more millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)—could be an early warning sign of cardiovascular disease.

Surprising new normal, healthy blood pressure for men by age 

What's good blood pressure for men by ages? As many as three-quarters of men over 65 have high blood pressure. Many end up taking medication to prevent heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and erectile dysfunction.

For most people with blood pressure clearly in the red zone, getting their numbers below 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) is a reasonable goal. However, in December 2013, a panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a recommendation that people over age 60 with high blood pressure could settle for a goal of 150/90—not the more stringent standard of 140/90—and still get health benefits. The American Heart Association rejected the idea, and five of the 17 members on the NIH panel later publicly dissented with the majority opinion. The debate continues.

Changes to start making today if your numbers are too high.