If you or someone you care about has ever struggled with high blood pressure, here’s some exciting news.
Scientists have made a discovery that could change the way we treat this common health problem.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is often called the “silent killer.” That’s because it usually shows no clear symptoms while it quietly damages your heart, kidneys, and blood vessels.
Doctors usually recommend lifestyle changes like eating less salt, exercising more, and taking medications. These help many people, but not everyone. For some, high blood pressure stays too high. Now, a new kind of body scan might help solve this problem at its source.
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and other institutions have developed a special scan that finds tiny lumps—called nodules—in your hormone glands.
These nodules make too much of a hormone called aldosterone, which raises blood pressure. They are actually pretty common—about 1 in 20 people with high blood pressure may have them. The problem is, until now, doctors had trouble finding them.
The new scan uses a special dye that sticks only to the harmful nodules. Once inside the body, the dye lights up the nodules, making them easy to see. This scan is fast, painless, and works every time. In a study, it helped doctors find nodules in two-thirds of people who had high levels of aldosterone.
But here’s the best part—once these nodules are found, they can be removed safely through surgery. That means some people might not need to take blood pressure pills anymore. And with a simple urine test, doctors can even tell who might be able to stop medications completely after treatment.
This is huge news because many people with these hormone-related nodules have gone undiagnosed. The older tests were too hard to use or simply weren’t available everywhere. Thanks to this new scan, it’s now possible to identify the exact cause of high blood pressure in many cases and treat it directly.
In fact, the study found that out of 24 patients whose blood pressure returned to normal after treatment, 18 were correctly identified by the scan and urine test as people who could stop taking medicine.
This research was led by Professor Morris Brown and published in the top science journal Nature Medicine. It offers real hope for people who have struggled with high blood pressure despite trying everything.
Of course, if you’re dealing with high blood pressure, don’t change your treatment without talking to your doctor. But in the near future, this new scan could become a key tool in helping people take control of their health.
This is a big step toward better, more targeted treatment—and for some, maybe even a cure.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies that timing matters when taking high blood pressure pills and 1 in 5 people with high blood pressure taking a drug worsen the disease.
For more about blood pressure, please read studies that new research challenges conventional blood pressure guidelines and scientists make a big breakthrough in high blood pressure treatment.
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