About the Program

The Hypertension Program at Columbia has a long history, and was originally under the direction of Dr John Laragh, making it one of the first centers to offer specialized care for hypertensive patients. After he moved to our sister Hospital New York Presbyterian in 1973 (then known as New York Hospital), it was directed by Dr Leslie Baer, who died in 2003. It is now directed by Dr Thomas Pickering Hypertension, who worked with Dr Laragh at New York Presbyterian Hospital for more than 20 years.

A portrait of Dr. Leslie Baer overlooks our clinic's main hall.

Hypertension affects 50 million Americans, but physicians who specialize in its diagnosis and treatment are hard to find. Our physicians are recognized as specialists by the American Society of Hypertension and are leaders in the field as both clinicians and researchers. Dr. Pickering, is a well-known expert in the field and the author of a popular book on hypertension called Good News About High Blood Pressure. He was also one of the first physicians to use 24-hour ambulatory monitoring for the diagnosis of hypertension.

We cover all aspects of hypertension, ranging from the evaluation of patients with borderline blood pressure to the emergency treatment of hypertensive crises. We have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of secondary hypertension, hypertension of pregnancy, and hypertension that occurs in association with diabetes and kidney disease. We have access to state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques such as magnetic resonance angiography and Doppler ultrasound imaging .

For the majority of patients who have essential hypertension, our focus is to involve the patient in the management of his or her condition. We place special emphasis on the accurate measurement of blood pressure, supplementing conventional clinic measurement with self-measurement by the patient at home monitoring and 24-hour ambulatory monitoring . We believe that this practice not only enables us to identify patients with "white coat hypertension," who usually do not need antihypertensive drug treatment, but also helps to improve their compliance with treatment. Self-monitoring also helps the patient and the physician find the optimal drug treatment, since not all drugs work in all patients.

It is often forgotten that non-drug forms of treating hypertension can be very effective. These include diet and exercise, and also behavioral forms of treatment. The DASH diet, which is a Mediterranean type of diet with the addition of low-fat dairy products, often lowers blood pressure to the same extent as many drugs.

Patients may be invited to participate in clinical studies, which are aimed either at furthering our understanding of the causes of hypertension or at investigating new forms of diagnosis and treatment. Examples are a study of the relations between stress-related intrusive thoughts and blood pressure and the treatment of high blood pressure using a device that trains patients to slow their breathing.

Director: Thomas G. Pickering, M.D., D.Phil. Telephone: (212) 342-4489 Fax: (212) 305-3712 General Email: jh2620@columbia.edu