High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major health concern. Think of it like a balloon filled with too much air – it’s under a lot of pressure and could burst.
In our bodies, this excessive pressure can lead to serious issues like heart diseases and strokes.
For many people with high blood pressure, the cause remains unknown, and they often have to take medication for their entire lives to manage it.
A Game-Changing Discovery
But there’s exciting news from a team of doctors at Queen Mary University of London, Barts Hospital, and Cambridge University Hospital. They conducted a study using a new type of CT scan, uncovering tiny lumps in a hormone gland.
Remarkably, removing these lumps actually cured high blood pressure. These tiny lumps were found in one out of every twenty people with high blood pressure, offering new hope for treatment.
Solving a Decades-Old Mystery
Published in Nature Medicine, this research solved a 60-year-old puzzle – how to detect these hormone-producing lumps effectively. Previously, a complex test was used, but it was not widely available and often unsuccessful.
The new approach combined a CT scan with a urine test, revealing that people could potentially stop taking all their blood pressure medications post-treatment.
Study Insights
The study involved 128 individuals, whose high blood pressure was linked to a hormone called aldosterone.
The scans showed that in two-thirds of these participants, the hormone was being produced by a benign lump in one of the adrenal glands, which could be safely removed.
The scan used a special dye called metomidate, which specifically targets and sticks to the lump producing aldosterone. This dye is radioactive but safe for use.
This new scan, paired with a urine test, was able to identify patients who could be completely cured by removing the gland, something the old test couldn’t do.
What the Experts Say
Professor Morris Brown, a leader of the study, highlighted that these lumps are very small and can be easily missed on standard CT scans.
However, with their new method, these lumps light up for a few minutes, making them clearly visible and identifiable as the cause of high blood pressure.
Professor William Drake, another leader of the study, emphasized the years of hard work and teamwork that went into this discovery, even during the challenging times of the pandemic.
Understanding Aldosterone and High Blood Pressure
Previous research by this group found that in 5% to 10% of high blood pressure cases, the cause is an adrenal gland gene mutation leading to excessive aldosterone production.
This hormone causes the body to retain more salt, increasing blood pressure. Individuals with high aldosterone levels often don’t respond well to standard blood pressure medicines and have a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
For those interested in high blood pressure, further reading is recommended on the role of diet, including studies on potatoes and a blood pressure-friendly diet, as well as the effects of vitamins and a potassium-rich diet on managing high blood pressure.
This significant study was published in Nature Medicine, marking a substantial step forward in understanding and potentially curing high blood pressure.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that could increase high blood pressure risk, and people with severe high blood pressure should reduce coffee intake.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and results showing plant-based foods could benefit people with high blood pressure.
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