High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects more than 116 million adults in the United States. It’s one of the leading causes of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems. In 2020 alone, high blood pressure was linked to over 670,000 deaths in the U.S.
Even though it’s very common, many people still struggle to keep their blood pressure under control. But new research from the University of Virginia offers fresh hope.
Scientists there have discovered a key process that may explain how the body controls blood pressure—and what goes wrong when someone has hypertension. This finding could lead to new treatments that work better and cause fewer side effects.
Blood pressure is partly managed by calcium inside the smooth muscle cells that line blood vessels. These cells tighten or relax the vessels by using calcium. When vessels tighten, blood pressure rises. When they relax, it falls.
Many people take a kind of medicine called calcium channel blockers to help relax blood vessels. These drugs prevent calcium from entering muscle cells, lowering blood pressure.
But calcium is also important for other body functions like moving muscles and sending signals through nerves. That’s why calcium blockers can sometimes cause side effects such as dizziness, tiredness, or swelling.
The new study found something exciting that might help solve this problem. Researchers discovered two very small areas inside the muscle cells, which they named “nanodomains.” These tiny areas work like control centers. They help the cells manage calcium signals and decide when to tighten or relax the blood vessels.
In healthy people, these nanodomains help keep things balanced so blood vessels can respond as needed. But in people with high blood pressure, this balance is lost. The signals to tighten become too strong, and the signals to relax become too weak. This keeps the blood vessels narrower than they should be, raising blood pressure.
This discovery opens the door to new ways of treating high blood pressure. Instead of blocking calcium everywhere in the body, new drugs in the future might target just these tiny nanodomains. That could help lower blood pressure without causing as many side effects.
More studies are needed to fully understand how nanodomains work and how to safely target them. But this is an important step forward. It helps researchers better understand what causes high blood pressure—not just how to treat the symptoms.
For millions of people living with hypertension, this research could someday lead to better treatments, fewer side effects, and a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
This exciting discovery offers new hope in the fight against one of the world’s most serious health problems.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that may increase high blood pressure risk, and drinking green tea could help lower blood pressure.
For more information about high blood pressure, please see recent studies about what to eat or to avoid for high blood pressure, and 12 foods that lower blood pressure.
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