BlackBerry 10 launches after long wait

Research In Motion Ltd unveiled the long-delayed line of smartphones it hopes will put it on the comeback trail on Wednesday but it disappointed investors by saying U.S. sales of its all-new BlackBerry 10 will start only in March.

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins also announced that RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985 to take the name of its signature product, signaling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email.

"From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry," Heins said at the New York launch. "It is one brand; it is one promise."

RIM, which is already starting to call itself BlackBerry, had initially planned to launch the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones in 2011. But it pushed the date back twice as it struggled to work with a new operating system.

Ahead of Wednesday's announcements, analysts had said that any launch after February would be a black mark for the Canadian company.

"The biggest disappointment was the delay in the U.S., that it will take so long before the devices get going there," said Eric Jackson, founder and managing Partner at Ironfire Capital LLC in New York.

Heins said the delays reflected the need for U.S. carrier testing, although carrier AT&T offered few clues on what that meant.

"We are very enthusiastic about the devices. We will announce pricing, availability, and other information at a later date. Beyond that, nothing to add," said spokesman Mark Siegel.

RIM launched its first BlackBerry back in 1999 as a way for busy executives to stay in touch with their clients and their offices, and the Canadian company quickly cornered the market for secure corporate and government email.

But its star faded as competition rose. The BlackBerry is now a far-behind also-ran in the race for market share, with a 3.4 percent global showing in the fourth quarter, down from 20 percent three years before. Its North American market share is even worse: a mere 2 percent in the fourth quarter.

RIM shares tumbled along with the company's market share, and the stock is down 90 percent from its 2008 peak.

The shares fell as much as 8 percent on Wednesday, although they are still more than twice the level of their September 2012 low, reflecting ever-louder buzz about the new devices.

TOUCH COMPETITION

The new BlackBerry 10 phones will compete with Apple's iPhone and devices using Google's Android technology, both of which have soared above the BlackBerry in a competitive market.

The BlackBerry 10 devices boast fast browsers, new features, smart cameras and, unlike previous BlackBerry models, enter the market primed with a large application library, including services such as Skype and the popular game Angry Birds.

The BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen device, in black or white, will be the first to hit the market, with a country-by-country roll-out that starts in Britain on Thursday.

A Q10 model, equipped with small "qwerty" keyboard that RIM made into its trademark, will launch globally in April.

The Z10 device won a lukewarm review from Wall Street Journal tech blogger Walt Mossberg, who complained of missing or lagging features and a shortage of apps.

But David Pogue, who writes for The New York Times, apologized for describing BlackBerry as doomed in the past. The Z10 touchscreen device was "lovely, fast and efficient, bristling with fresh, useful ideas," he said.

Announcements about pricing so far have been in line with expectations. U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless said the phone would cost $199 for a two-year contract, while Canada's Rogers Communications is quoting C$149 ($150) for certain three-year plans.

GLITZY LAUNCH

RIM picked a range of venues for its global launch parties, including Dubai's $650-a-night Armani Hotel, which occupies six floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower.

The New York event took place in a sprawling basketball facility on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, just north of the Manhattan Bridge. The BlackBerry has been "Re-designed. Re-engineered. Re-invented," RIM said.

RIM, which is splurging on a Superbowl ad to promote its new phones, also introduced Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Alicia Keys as its global creative director.

"I was in a long-term relationship with BlackBerry, and then I started to notice some new, kind of hotter, attractive, sexier phones at the gym, and I kind of broke up with you for something that had a little more bling," Keys said at the New York launch.

"But I always missed the way you organized my life, and the way you were there for me at my job, and so I started to have two phones - I was kind of playing the field. But then … you added a lot more features … and now, we're exclusively dating again, and I'm very happy."

RIMM data by YCharts

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Teen girl killed, boy wounded in shooting near high school

After taking their exams, Hadiya Pendleton and a group of others decided to hang out at a park on Tuesday just blocks away from their high school on the South Side.

But the trip ended in tragedy when the 15-year-old King College Prep student was fatally shot in the back and a 16-year-old boy was wounded in the leg, and remained in serious condition Tuesday night, authorities said. Police said Pendleton was not believed to be the target of the shooting, but that most of those who were in the park were gang members, and that those in the group did not stay on scene to help after the shootings.

The shooting occurred around 2:20 p.m. in the 4500 block of South Oakenwald Avenue, police said.

Pendleton was a sophomore at King high school, friends said. The boy also is a student at King, they said, though Pendleton's relatives said they were not sure what school he attended.

One of the teens was taken in serious to critical condition to Comer Children's Hospital, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight.

The other victim also was taken to Comer and police at first believed both victims' conditions had stabilized by a little after 3 p.m., said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

At Comer this evening, a group of young people sat and stood inside the entrance to the hospital's emergency room, along with the principal of King high school.

Many hugged as they brushed tears from their eyes and consoled each other and Pendleton's parents.

"She was awesome," one girl said of Pendleton outside the hospital's ER.

Friends of the slain girl said King was dismissed early today because of exams, and students went to the park on Oakenwald--something they don't usually do.

Friends said the girl was a majorette and a volleyball player, a friendly and sweet presence at King, one of the top 10 CPS selective enrollment schools.

Neighbors said students from King do hang out at Harsh Park, 4458-70 S. Oakenwald Ave., and that students were there this afternoon before the shooting took place. A group of 10 to 12 teens at the park had taken shelter under a canopy there during a rainstorm when a boy or man jumped a fence in the park, ran toward the group and opened fire, police said in a statement this evening.

The attacker then got into an auto and left the area, police said.

Neighbors reported hearing shots about 2:20 p.m.

Desiree Sanders said she heard six gunshots and called 911 after a neighbor told her that some teens had been shot. Neighbors told her as many as 10 young people had been hanging out at the small park, and most scattered after the shooting, though a few stayed behind with the victims.

Those in the group were not cooperating with police, however, and investigators had no detailed descriptions yet of either the attacker or the vehicle in which he left. Central Area detectives were investigating, and they had no one in custody as of about 8:20 p.m.

Police crime data show no serious crimes happened in the 4400 or 4500 blocks of South Oakenwald Avenue Dec. 19 to Jan. 20.

“It’s a great neighborhood. Nothing like this has happened since I’ve been here,” on the block, said Roxanne Hubbard, who has lived in the neighborhood for 19 years.

As a matter of policy, Chicago Board of Education officials refuse to confirm whether any child is a student at Chicago Public Schools because a policy on student identification passed by the board several years ago has never been implemented.

Tribune reporter Liam Ford contributed.

jmdelgado@tribune.com

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BlackBerry 10 said to be inadequate for helping RIM overcome its ‘demons’

After hitting a seven-year low of $ 6.22 this past summer, shares of Research in Motion (RIMM) have rebounded and climbed more than 100% in the past six months. The company that was previously written off by Wall Street investors has seen a significant boost in recent months as anticipation grows for its BlackBerry 10 operating system. But while a number of analysts have voiced their support for RIM, not everyone is convinced.

[More from BGR: Apple’s 128GB iPad shows the world exactly what Apple does best]

Jan Dawson of Ovum explained, per Benzinga, that RIM continues to “face the twin demons of consumer-driven buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers,” and he believes BlackBerry 10 won’t change this. The analyst said that due to a strong user base of 79 million subscribers and profitability still in the black, the company will remain for years to come. He was quick to note, however, that its glory days are in the past and “it is only a matter of time before it reaches a natural end.”

[More from BGR: Apple unveils new 128GB iPad]

Dawson previously wrote that RIM’s strategy seems to be focused on building the best devices for current BlackBerry users “rather than something that will necessarily win converts from other platforms.”

“The points of differentiation RIM has focused on in teasers for the new platform confirm this – better multitasking, productivity, email, contacts and calendar applications and so on, rather than a better gaming, content consumption or social networking experience,” he said.

Shares of RIM are down more than 6% on Monday, a day before the company is set to unveil its BlackBerry 10 operating system.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Justin Timberlake’s new album ’20/20′ is due out in March

(Reuters) – Singer-turned-actor Justin Timberlake has set a March date for his comeback album – his first in more than six years.

RCA Records said on Tuesday “The 20/20 Experience,” the former N’Sync boy band member’s follow-up to 2006′s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” and only his third album ever, would be released on March 19.

In recent years, Timberlake, 31, has focused more on films and business ventures ranging from restaurants to a clothing line, and reviving social networking site Myspace, of which he is part owner. He remarked in a recent video that creating music involved “physical torture” for him.

“Suit & Tie,” the first single off his forthcoming album, fell short of sales expectations for its first week. The song, featuring rapper Jay-Z, sold 314,000 downloads last week. Industry experts had expected about 350,000 downloads.

Top menswear designer Tom Ford collaborated with Timberlake, designing suits worn in the “Suit & Tie” video as well as styling the production and the release’s artwork.

Timberlake will perform his first concert in five years during a private Super Bowl-weekend event in New Orleans on February 2 at an invitation-only concert.

Timberlake posted on Twitter about the forthcoming game, saying among other things: “This is gonna be a GREAT Super Bowl!” and “Oh wait … I don’t have tickets. Dammit! Anybody know anybody?? LOL!”

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)

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Report Links Rodriguez and Others to Clinic and P.E.D.’s

Investigators for Major League Baseball created an improvised war room in the commissioner’s Park Avenue offices in Manhattan in recent months, mapping out potential evidence that would tie an anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables, Fla., to the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs by some of baseball’s more prominent players. 

But because the investigators cannot compel witnesses to talk, they could do nothing more than scrutinize the clinic. As a result, they found themselves mere spectators Tuesday as a weekly Miami newspaper reported that it had obtained medical records from the clinic that tied a half-dozen players — Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz and Yasmani Grandal — to the use of banned substances like human growth hormone.

The newspaper, Miami New Times, said it had received the records from a former employee of the clinic, which is now closed, and that they included handwritten notations listing various drugs that were reportedly distributed to various players. At least some of those documents were displayed online by the newspaper. However, the documents have not been independently authenticated, and Rodriguez, the Yankees slugger, and Gonzalez, a standout pitcher for the Washington Nationals, both issued statements denying they had been patients at the clinic.

Anthony Bosch, the operator of the clinic, known as Biogenesis of America, also issued a statement of denial through his lawyer, saying the Miami New Times article was “filled with inaccuracies, innuendos and misstatements in fact.”

“Mr. Bosch vehemently denies the assertions that MLB players such as Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez were treated or associated with him,” the statement added.

Nevertheless, despite the denials, Major League Baseball, long suspicious of the clinic’s actions, will continue to proceed in the belief that the assertions in the article have merit. Major League Baseball has been particularly curious about Rodriguez, who admitted in 2009 that he used performance enhancers from 2001 to 2003, but who has denied in several meetings with baseball’s investigators that he has done so since.

But what exactly baseball can do about Rodriguez, or any of the other players named, is unclear.

Because the potential evidence does not involve failed drug tests, baseball is back where it has been in the past, seeking perhaps to punish players without having the necessary evidence to do so. In the case of the Biogenesis clinic, baseball’s investigators did travel to Florida to meet with members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, who were taking a close look at the facility.

But whether federal authorities would share with baseball any evidence they develop on the clinic is unclear. In other instances over the last decade, that has not happened.

“If the feds are not going to prosecute this case, it would be much better for us for them to give us some usable evidence like the documents so we can do our job and suspend the players,” a baseball official said. “We could be in discipline hell if that doesn’t happen.”

That official knows that baseball has had little success in suspending players for violating the drug testing program when the players have not actually tested positive. Of the roughly 40 players who have been suspended for violating the testing program since 2005, only a handful have been suspended based on evidence developed by baseball’s investigators or from medical records or court documents.

The most high-profile instance of a suspension without a drug test occurred in 2005 when relief pitcher Jason Grimsley was barred for 50 games after federal authorities unsealed court documents that showed that Grimsley admitted to a federal agent that he had used human growth hormone.

As for the Florida clinic, it has been on the radar of both baseball and the federal government since at least 2009, when investigators uncovered evidence that the slugger Manny Ramirez had received a banned drug from the facility. Ramirez was ultimately suspended 50 games for that infraction.

Last summer, baseball’s investigators began to take another look at the clinic after Cabrera, then leading the National League in hitting as the San Francisco Giants’ starting left fielder, tested positive for elevated testosterone. In the course of that positive test, two people in baseball said, baseball’s investigators uncovered evidence that an employee for Cabrera’s agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, had hatched a cover-up scheme to deceive a baseball arbitrator and have the suspension for the positive drug test thrown out.

Angered, baseball officials began investigating the employee, Juan Nunez, and the Levinsons.

Steve Eder and Alain Delaquérière contributed reporting from New York, and Lizette Alvarez from Miami.

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Chicago home price recovery lags

The Chicago area's housing recovery continued to lag that of other cities and the nation, as prices in November fell 1.3 percent from a month earlier, according to a widely watched barometer of the housing market.

On an annual basis, home prices in the Chicago area rose only 0.8 percent in November, the smallest positive gain recorded among the 20 cities included in the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, released Tuesday.

Nationally, home prices rose 5.5 percent annually for the 20-city composite. Much of that  can be traced to market improvements in once hard-hit places such as Phoenix, where home prices have risen 22.8 percent in 12 months. Other cities recording strong yearly increases included Detroit, up 11.9 percent; Las Vegas, up 10 percent; San Francisco, up 12.7 percent; and Minneapolis, up 11.1 percent.

"Housing is clearly recovering," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P Dow Jones Indices' index committee. "Prices are rising as are both new and existing home sales."

Most cities saw prices decline in November from their October levels, which Blitzer tied to the market's typical winter weakness.

Nevertheless, Chicago turned in the worst monthly performance among the 20 cities. It was the third consecutive monthly decline for local home prices, which showed signs of strength earlier in 2012. Local prices are on par with their June 2001 levels.

Condominium values in the Chicago market also fell for the second consecutive month. In November, they were down 0.9 percent from October but rose 2.7 percent from November 2011.

Strong foreclosure activity, and the resulting sales of those properties at steep discounts, has held down local home prices and the market's recovery. In 2012, Illinois had the fifth highest state foreclosure rate in the nation, topped only by Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, RealtyTrac reported last week.

Also hindering the local market's recovery is the foreclosure process in Illinois, a judicial state where all foreclosures are processed by the court system. RealtyTrac said it took an average of 697 days to complete a foreclosure in Illinois last year, meaning those properties may not be listed for resale for two years. During that time, their condition can deteriorate, bringing down the value of that home as well as others in the neighborhood.

Another report issued Tuesday showed some improvement in foreclosure activity in the Chicago area, although mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures here continue to outpace those at the national level.

Housing data provider CoreLogic said that 5.57 percent of mortgages in the Chicago area were in some stage of foreclosure in November, compared with 5.7 percent in October and 6.37 percent in November 2011.

Also, 10.10 percent of mortgages in the Chicago area were considered seriously delinquent, meaning they were at least 90 days past due in November. That compares with 10.19 percent in October and 10.72 percent in November 2011.

The national foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates were 2.97 percent and 6.45 percent, respectively, in November.

mepodmolik@tribune.com | Twitter @mepodmolik

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Record temps, heavy rain, possible flooding Tuesday

Yet another winter weather record could be set in Chicago on Tuesday.

A short-lived warm-up, accompanied by heavy rains, severe thunder and maybe hail, could push temperatures into the mid-60s. The record high for the date, Jan. 29, is 59 degrees, set in 1914.

The unseasonable warmth won't last long, with a high of only 20 forecast for Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

"We tend to get some wild extremes in January," said Jim Allsopp, a meteorologist for the weather service. "It all depends on which way the wind blows."

In this case, there is nothing to block warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico from blowing into the Chicago area. That air will be coming in gusts that could hit 25 mph Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by heavy thunderstorms. The rain is forecast to be severe enough that the weather service already has issued a flood watch.

The warm conditions are a stark change from the beginning of the week. Sunday's skies spit out freezing rain, sleet and ice pellets, sending salt trucks out in force across the Chicago region.

At least five records have been broken since winter arrived in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service. The new records include the number of consecutive days without an inch of snowfall (335) and the longest string of days without a temperature below 32 degrees (310).

While the Chicago area hasn't recorded that much snow this season, 1.77 inches of rain has been reported in January, slightly beating the long-term average for the month of 1.73 inches, said Jim Angel, state climatologist.

With about a third of the state in some form of drought, the increased rainfall is welcome. But some areas might not be able to benefit from the precipitation because the ground there is frozen, Angel said.

Temperatures this month at O'Hare International Airport, the city's official recording station, have ranged from 53 degrees on Jan. 12 to minus 1 on Jan. 22, according to the weather service.

Such extremes aren't unusual in the winter because the Midwest gets caught between cold, arctic air blowing from the north and strong, warm gusts from the south. But the potential record warmth forecast for Tuesday will be helped along greatly by the lack of snow on the ground.

"If we had 2 feet of snow in the ground and we were in a pretty strong winter pattern, we'd probably never see this kind of thing happen," Angel said. "This year it's mild; there's plenty of opportunity for (warm weather) to make its way up north more."

jmdelgado@tribune.com

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Yahoo revenue rises on search advertising

(Reuters) – Yahoo Inc posted a 4 percent gain in net revenue to $ 1.22 billion in the fourth quarter, when an increase in search advertising sales offset weakness in the Web portal’s display ad business.

The company forecast net revenue — which excludes fees shared with partner websites — of $ 1.07 billion to $ 1.1 billion in the current quarter, trailing the $ 1.1 billion that Wall Street analysts expect on average.

Shares in Yahoo, which is trying to stave off declines across much of its business and revive growth, were up 1.5 percent in after hours trade. They had risen 4.5 percent before the revenue projections were disclosed on an analysts’ conference call.

“We got the revenue acceleration we were hoping for. Display was down, but search is doing better” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst at B. Riley Caris.

“As long as in the near-term things are not bad, I think the stock will generally act positively while we wait for Marissa Mayer to deliver,” said Sinha.

The company said on Monday its fourth-quarter net income was $ 272.3 million, or 23 cents per share, versus $ 295.6 million, or 24 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Excluding certain items, Yahoo said it had earnings per share of 32 cents, versus the average analyst expectation of 28 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Chief Executive Marissa Mayer is moving to revive the company’s fortunes after several years of declining revenue. Yahoo’s stock has risen roughly 30 percent since she became CEO, reaching its highest levels since 2008.

Yahoo said it repurchased $ 1.5 billion worth of shares during the fourth quarter. Shares in the company were up 1.5 percent at $ 20.61 in extended trading from a close of $ 20.31 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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The CW orders “The Hundred” drama pilot, two others

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The CW has gone post-apocalyptic with its pilot orders.

The network has placed an order for the drama pilot “The Hundred,” based on the upcoming book series by Kass Morgan (which has received an initial two-book order from Little, Brown).

The pilot will be set 97 years after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing humanity’s lone survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth in hopes of possibly re-populating the planet.

Jason Rothenberg is writing as well as executive producing the project, which comes from Warner Bros. Television and Alloy Entertainment, with Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo also executive-producing.

The network has also ordered the sci-fi drama “Oxygen,” about a romance between a human girl and an alien boy.

“Passion and politics threaten the peace and an epic romance ignites between a human girl and an alien boy when he and eight others of his kind (The Orion 9) are integrated into a suburban high school ten years after they and hundreds of others landed on Earth and were immediately consigned to an internment camp where they’ve been imprisoned ever since,” a logline for the show explains.

Meredith Averill (“The Good Wife”) is writing and executive-producing “Oxygen,” which comes from CBS Television Studios, Ole Productions, Isla de Babel SL and 360 Powwow LLC.

Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Richard Shepard, Bryan Furst, Sean Furst and Daniel Gutman are also executive producing.

Finally, “Reign” promises to tell the “previously unknown and untold story of Mary Queen of Scots,” detailing the secret history of survival at French Court “amidst fierce foes, dark forces, and a world of sexual intrigue.” Stephanie Sengupta (“Hawaii Five-0″) and Laurie McCarthy (“Ghost Whisperer”) are writing and executive producing the pilot, which is being produced by CBS Television Studios.

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Personal Health: Keeping Blood Pressure in Check

Since the start of the 21st century, Americans have made great progress in controlling high blood pressure, though it remains a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.

Now 48 percent of the more than 76 million adults with hypertension have it under control, up from 29 percent in 2000.

But that means more than half, including many receiving treatment, have blood pressure that remains too high to be healthy. (A normal blood pressure is lower than 120 over 80.) With a plethora of drugs available to normalize blood pressure, why are so many people still at increased risk of disease, disability and premature death? Hypertension experts offer a few common, and correctable, reasons:

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Jane Brody speaks about hypertension.

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¶ About 20 percent of affected adults don’t know they have high blood pressure, perhaps because they never or rarely see a doctor who checks their pressure.

¶ Of the 80 percent who are aware of their condition, some don’t appreciate how serious it can be and fail to get treated, even when their doctors say they should.

¶ Some who have been treated develop bothersome side effects, causing them to abandon therapy or to use it haphazardly.

¶ Many others do little to change lifestyle factors, like obesity, lack of exercise and a high-salt diet, that can make hypertension harder to control.

Dr. Samuel J. Mann, a hypertension specialist and professor of clinical medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College, adds another factor that may be the most important. Of the 71 percent of people with hypertension who are currently being treated, too many are taking the wrong drugs or the wrong dosages of the right ones.

Dr. Mann, author of “Hypertension and You: Old Drugs, New Drugs, and the Right Drugs for Your High Blood Pressure,” says that doctors should take into account the underlying causes of each patient’s blood pressure problem and the side effects that may prompt patients to abandon therapy. He has found that when treatment is tailored to the individual, nearly all cases of high blood pressure can be brought and kept under control with available drugs.

Plus, he said in an interview, it can be done with minimal, if any, side effects and at a reasonable cost.

“For most people, no new drugs need to be developed,” Dr. Mann said. “What we need, in terms of medication, is already out there. We just need to use it better.”

But many doctors who are generalists do not understand the “intricacies and nuances” of the dozens of available medications to determine which is appropriate to a certain patient.

“Prescribing the same medication to patient after patient just does not cut it,” Dr. Mann wrote in his book.

The trick to prescribing the best treatment for each patient is to first determine which of three mechanisms, or combination of mechanisms, is responsible for a patient’s hypertension, he said.

¶ Salt-sensitive hypertension, more common in older people and African-Americans, responds well to diuretics and calcium channel blockers.

¶ Hypertension driven by the kidney hormone renin responds best to ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, as well as direct renin inhibitors and beta-blockers.

¶ Neurogenic hypertension is a product of the sympathetic nervous system and is best treated with beta-blockers, alpha-blockers and drugs like clonidine.

According to Dr. Mann, neurogenic hypertension results from repressed emotions. He has found that many patients with it suffered trauma early in life or abuse. They seem calm and content on the surface but continually suppress their distress, he said.

One of Dr. Mann’s patients had had high blood pressure since her late 20s that remained well-controlled by the three drugs her family doctor prescribed. Then in her 40s, periodic checks showed it was often too high. When taking more of the prescribed medication did not result in lasting control, she sought Dr. Mann’s help.

After a thorough work-up, he said she had a textbook case of neurogenic hypertension, was taking too much medication and needed different drugs. Her condition soon became far better managed, with side effects she could easily tolerate, and she no longer feared she would die young of a heart attack or stroke.

But most patients should not have to consult a specialist. They can be well-treated by an internist or family physician who approaches the condition systematically, Dr. Mann said. Patients should be started on low doses of one or more drugs, including a diuretic; the dosage or number of drugs can be slowly increased as needed to achieve a normal pressure.

Specialists, he said, are most useful for treating the 10 percent to 15 percent of patients with so-called resistant hypertension that remains uncontrolled despite treatment with three drugs, including a diuretic, and for those whose treatment is effective but causing distressing side effects.

Hypertension sometimes fails to respond to routine care, he noted, because it results from an underlying medical problem that needs to be addressed.

“Some patients are on a lot of blood pressure drugs — four or five — who probably don’t need so many, and if they do, the question is why,” Dr. Mann said.

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How to Measure Your Blood Pressure

Mistaken readings, which can occur in doctors’ offices as well as at home, can result in misdiagnosis of hypertension and improper treatment. Dr. Samuel J. Mann, of Weill Cornell Medical College, suggests these guidelines to reduce the risk of errors:

¶ Use an automatic monitor rather than a manual one, and check the accuracy of your home monitor at the doctor’s office.

¶ Use a monitor with an arm cuff, not a wrist or finger cuff, and use a large cuff if you have a large arm.

¶ Sit quietly for a few minutes, without talking, after putting on the cuff and before checking your pressure.

¶ Check your pressure in one arm only, and take three readings (not more) one or two minutes apart.

¶ Measure your blood pressure no more than twice a week unless you have severe hypertension or are changing medications.

¶ Check your pressure at random, ordinary times of the day, not just when you think it is high.

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