High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is one of the most common health problems in the world. It happens when the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries stays too high for a long period of time.
Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. When the pressure inside these vessels remains elevated, the heart has to work harder to pump blood. Over time, this extra strain can damage important organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys, and blood vessels.
Doctors often call high blood pressure a “silent condition” because it usually causes no obvious symptoms. Many people do not know they have it until a routine medical check finds it.
If the condition is not treated, it can lead to serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and vision loss. Because of these risks, millions of people around the world take medication every day to keep their blood pressure under control.
For many patients, doctors cannot identify the exact cause of high blood pressure. This type is called essential hypertension and is usually linked to factors such as aging, genetics, diet, stress, and lifestyle. In these cases, treatment focuses on managing the condition rather than curing it. Patients may need to take blood pressure medication for the rest of their lives.
However, scientists have long suspected that some people with high blood pressure actually have a specific medical cause that could be treated directly. Now, researchers in the United Kingdom have made an important discovery that could help doctors cure high blood pressure in certain patients.
A team of doctors and scientists from Queen Mary University of London, Barts Hospital, and Cambridge University Hospital have developed a new method to identify a hidden cause of hypertension.
Their work focuses on the adrenal glands, which are small organs that sit just above the kidneys. These glands produce several hormones that control many important processes in the body.
One of the hormones made by the adrenal glands is called aldosterone. Aldosterone plays a key role in regulating the balance of salt and water in the body. By controlling how much salt the body keeps or releases, this hormone helps regulate blood pressure.
In some people, the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone. When this happens, the body holds on to more salt than it needs. Extra salt causes the body to retain more water, which increases the volume of blood in the circulation. As a result, blood pressure rises. This condition is known as primary aldosteronism.
The researchers found that this hormone problem may be more common than doctors previously thought. Their studies suggest that about one in twenty people with high blood pressure may actually have tiny lumps in their adrenal glands that produce too much aldosterone.
These lumps are usually extremely small. Because of their tiny size, they are very difficult to detect using standard medical scans.
For many years, the only way to confirm the condition was through a complicated test called adrenal vein sampling. This procedure requires doctors to insert thin tubes into blood vessels to measure hormone levels directly from each adrenal gland.
Adrenal vein sampling is technically challenging and not widely available in many hospitals. Because of this, many patients with primary aldosteronism were never diagnosed correctly and never had the chance to receive treatment that might cure their condition.
The new research has introduced a much simpler and more reliable method for detecting these hormone‑producing lumps. The scientists used a special type of CT scan together with a urine test to locate the abnormal tissue in the adrenal glands.
During the scan, doctors inject a substance called metomidate into the patient’s bloodstream. Metomidate is a special dye that is slightly radioactive but safe for medical imaging.
The dye attaches specifically to adrenal tissue that produces excess aldosterone. When this happens, the abnormal area briefly lights up on the scan, allowing doctors to see exactly where the tiny lump is located.
The research team tested this new method on 128 patients whose high blood pressure was suspected to be caused by excess aldosterone. The results were extremely encouraging. The scan successfully identified the abnormal adrenal gland in every patient in the study.
This represents a major improvement over older testing methods, which sometimes produced unclear results or failed completely. By combining the scan with the urine test, doctors were also able to predict which patients were most likely to benefit from surgery.
For patients who have a single small lump producing excess hormone, surgery can remove the affected adrenal gland. When the gland with the lump is removed, the source of the extra aldosterone disappears. In many cases, the patient’s blood pressure returns to normal levels.
Some patients may no longer need blood pressure medication after surgery. Others may require far fewer medications than before. This offers real hope for people whose hypertension is caused by this hidden hormonal problem.
The research was led by Professor Morris Brown, who explained that these adrenal lumps are usually too small to be seen with normal imaging techniques. Thanks to the new scanning method, doctors can now detect them clearly and treat the underlying cause of the disease.
Another lead researcher, Professor William Drake, said the discovery was the result of many years of careful scientific investigation. The same research team has spent decades studying how adrenal hormones affect blood pressure and how genetic changes in adrenal cells can lead to excessive hormone production.
Earlier work by the group also showed that between five and ten percent of people with high blood pressure may carry genetic changes in their adrenal glands that lead to overproduction of aldosterone. These patients often do not respond well to standard blood pressure medications and face a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
By identifying and removing the hormone‑producing lumps, doctors may be able to cure high blood pressure in these individuals and greatly reduce their risk of serious complications.
The study was published in the medical journal Nature Medicine. Researchers believe that if future studies confirm these results, the new scanning method could become a routine test in hospitals around the world. This would allow doctors to identify many more patients whose high blood pressure can be cured rather than simply controlled.
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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