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cover art for Episode 7 - Hypertension with Dr. Shelita Dattani

Rings a Bell

Episode 7 - Hypertension with Dr. Shelita Dattani

Season 1, Ep. 7

The one, the only, Dr. Shelita Dattani quizzes Kim on the 2025 Hypertension Canada guidelines.


Dr. Shelita Dattani is a nationally and internationally recognized pharmacy leader, advocate, and speaker with over 25 years of experience across community practice, hospital settings, academia, industry and national associations. Shelitta is on the board of Hypertension Canada and knows the 2025 Hypertension Canada guidelines inside and out.


The full guidelines are available at hypertension.ca


If you want to see references from this episode, follow the show on socials, sign up for the email list, donate via "buy me a coffee" or send me an email you can do so using this link: https://ringsabellpod.kit.com/allthethings


Shelita can be found on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelita-dattani-pharmd-a117aa1a/ or on instagram @shelsrx.

You can also email Shelita at sdatrx@gmail.com.


Here are the chapters for this episode:

00:00 - Introduction 

04:00 - How big is the hypertension problem in Canada?

10:33 - How does Canada compare to the rest of the globe in terms of hypertension prevalence and management?

15:30 - The case for pharmacist management of uncomplicated hypertension.

19:14 - What is the recommended technique for measuring blood pressure according to the 2025 hypertension Canada guidelines?

22:37 - What proportion of people have white coat hypertension?

23:56 - What is masked hypertension?

24:13 - What is the gold standard for checking blood pressure?

25:52 - Why do we need to keep our feet flat on the floor when checking blood pressure? (and other tips for accurate blood pressure readings).

32:09 - The problem with blood pressure kiosks in pharmacies and the case for a counselling room pharmacist directed blood pressure measurement. 

38:11 - What is the target blood pressure for everyone now?

41:54 - What is the number needed to harm for treating hypertension to 130/80 mmHg?

45:23 - What makes a person high cardiovascular risk and how do we treat their hypertension vs. someone with low cardiovascular risk?

48:36 - What are the recommendations for lifestyle interventions according to the 2025 Hypertension Canada Guidelines?

50:42 - Where do we get most of the sodium in our modern diets?

52:37 - What is the impact of alcohol on blood pressure?

56:51 - What is the pharmacotherapy strategy for treating hypertension according to the 2025 Hypertension Canada Guidelines?

1:03:00 - Do Angiotensin Receptor Blockers cause coughs?

1:04:00 - Can you use an ACE and an ARB together?

1:08:00 - Do we use beta blockers to control uncomplicated hypertension?

1:13:36 - Wrap up


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