High blood pressure affects more than 1.5 billion people around the world and is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke.
To prevent and treat it effectively, it’s important to understand what causes it.
A recent study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital points to an important but often overlooked factor: a hormone called aldosterone.
For many years, doctors believed that primary aldosteronism—a condition where the body makes too much aldosterone—was rare. But this new study shows it may actually be much more common than we thought.
Aldosterone helps the body control blood pressure by managing how much sodium and potassium are in the blood. When the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone, the body keeps more sodium and loses potassium. This causes blood pressure to rise and also increases the risk of heart problems.
Researchers looked at people with all kinds of blood pressure levels, from normal to very high, including those with resistant high blood pressure (which doesn’t respond well to regular treatment). They found that the worse the person’s blood pressure, the higher their aldosterone levels were.
Surprisingly, many of these cases would not have been discovered using today’s standard medical tests. This means that many people with high blood pressure may actually have undiagnosed primary aldosteronism. They may not know that this hormone is making their condition worse.
This new understanding could change how we diagnose and treat high blood pressure. Instead of viewing primary aldosteronism as rare, doctors may start to see it as a common issue. If they begin testing more people for aldosterone levels, they could catch this problem earlier and treat it more effectively.
The good news is that there are already medicines called aldosterone antagonists that can block the harmful effects of this hormone. These drugs are affordable and widely available. Using them more often could help people control their blood pressure better and lower their risk of heart disease and stroke.
The study also encourages a fresh look at how doctors test for high blood pressure. By checking for aldosterone during routine exams, they could create more personalized and successful treatment plans for their patients.
Alongside medication, other methods like fasting, eating healthier, and learning to monitor blood pressure at home can also help. These steps, when used together, can improve health and lower the risk of serious complications.
This research, led by Dr. Jenifer M. Brown and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, offers new hope in the fight against high blood pressure. By focusing on the role of aldosterone, doctors may be able to help more people live longer and healthier lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes.
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