Medical breakthroughs often pave the way for new treatments, and researchers from Queen Mary University of London have recently brought forward an advancement that could revolutionize how certain high blood pressure cases are diagnosed and treated.
Their discovery centers on an innovative CT scan technique.
The Challenge with Hormone Gland Nodules
One of the challenges in treating high blood pressure has been the tiny nodules found in a hormone gland. About 5% of people with high blood pressure have these nodules.
However, they’ve been notoriously difficult to detect for over half a century. The common method, a catheter study, isn’t widely available and has a notable rate of failure.
The Breakthrough CT Scan
The new CT scan comes to the rescue by targeting these nodules. Here’s how it worked:
Researchers studied 128 patients suffering from hypertension due to the steroid hormone called aldosterone.
The groundbreaking discovery: about two-thirds of these patients had this hormone stemming from a small, benign nodule in one of their adrenal glands. The nodules, when removed, seemed to resolve the high blood pressure issue.
The CT scan technique employs a short-lived dose of a radioactive dye named metomidate. This dye specifically clings to these nodules, making them detectable.
This new method stands out not only for its efficiency but also for its convenience and accuracy. Patients found it quick and painless.
And compared to the old catheter test, this scan could also identify patients whose hypertension might be entirely resolved after a surgical nodule removal.
The Implications and Future Prospects
These nodules, despite their significant role in causing hypertension, mostly go undiagnosed. The prime reason? The conventional tests were either not available or too challenging to execute.
But when these nodules are illuminated post-injection in the new scan, they unveil themselves as the clear culprits of the high blood pressure, which can frequently be cured thereafter.
Moreover, when paired with a urine test, this CT scan also identifies patients who might not need blood pressure medication after undergoing treatment.
These findings have massive potential. They might significantly cut down the number of people plagued by high blood pressure, a condition that escalates the risks of heart ailments and strokes.
Researchers are hopeful that this CT scan, coupled with the urine test, will become an accessible diagnostic tool in hospitals globally, providing a trustworthy method to pinpoint high blood pressure induced by these particular nodules.
However, as with any medical discovery, it’s vital to test this new method on a larger scale to validate its effectiveness further.
For those keen on staying updated with hypertension research, other studies have highlighted the potential benefits of fasting and certain diets in managing high blood pressure.
The extensive research, led by Professor Morris Brown and his team, is available in the acclaimed journal, Nature Medicine.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about blood pressure drug that may increase risk of sudden cardiac arrest, and these teas could help reduce high blood pressure.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about nutrient that could strongly lower high blood pressure, and results showing this novel antioxidant may help reverse blood vessels aging by 20 years.
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