Q 01/05

Which African mammal's heart must generate roughly double human blood pressure to keep its brain supplied?

A) Elephant

B) Hippopotamus

C) Giraffe

D) Rhinoceros

Answer · why

C) Giraffe

Giraffe hearts weigh about 11 kg, with walls up to 7.5 cm thick, because every beat has to push blood up a neck some two metres long.

Q 02/05

The first ACE inhibitor, a common type of blood pressure drug, was modelled on a peptide in which animal's venom?

A) A cone snail

B) A scorpion

C) A funnel-web spider

D) A pit viper

Answer · why

D) A pit viper

A pit viper from Brazil, the jararaca, kills partly by making its prey's blood pressure collapse. Chemists copied the venom peptide to make captopril ...

Q 03/05

Which Pfizer drug, launched in the 1990s, was first studied as a treatment for high blood pressure and angina?

A) Lipitor

B) Viagra

C) Zoloft

D) Celebrex

Answer · why

B) Viagra

Viagra, or sildenafil, did little for angina in early trials, but the volunteers reported an unexpected side effect. Pfizer switched its target to ere...

Q 04/05

What nickname does the WHO give high blood pressure, since most people who have it feel no symptoms?

A) The silent killer

B) The quiet thief

C) The great imitator

D) The hidden plague

Answer · why

A) The silent killer

The silent killer is a major cause of early death worldwide, yet hundreds of millions of adults who have it are unaware. The only way to know is to ha...

Q 05/05

Which fruit's juice can dangerously boost the dose of some blood pressure pills, such as felodipine, in the bloodstream?

A) Pineapple

B) Cranberry

C) Grapefruit

D) Watermelon

Answer · why

C) Grapefruit

Grapefruit juice was caught doing this by accident in 1989, when researchers used it to hide the taste of alcohol in a drug study. One small glass can...