Blood Pressure & Blood Vessel Disease

Researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee proclaim linked higher levels of the hormone aldosterone to high blood prevail upon and blood boat disease in African Americans. Aldosterone is secreted by the adrenal glands and causes zest retention by the kidneys. "The pervasiveness of high blood pressure, or hypertension, in African Americans is lot the highest in the the public," says lead researcher Theodore Kotchen, M.D., professor of panacea and associate dean for clinical digging. "Previously, we found somewhat high aldosterone levels in African Americans with superior blood urging," he said. "In this study we have originate that aldosterone may not at best contribute to high blood pressure but also to agnate changes in blood receptacle function in the kidneys and extremities."

The researchers compared 24-hour blood pressures, insensitivity achievement, blood vessel stiffness, kidney blood flow, and aldosterone levels in 224 African Americans with posh blood pressure, with those of 217 African Americans with odd blood pressure. They develop that those with pongy chief blood pressure had higher levels of aldosterone. Their brotherly love yield was lower, extremity blood vessel stiffness was greater, kidney blood efflux was lower, and kidney resistance to blood flow was higher than those with stereotyped blood pressure. Most importantly, the blood pressure levels, blood ark manageability, and kidney blood flow in those with high blood sway were all as soon as correlated with their aldosterone levels. "These observations betoken that aldosterone contributes to high blood pressure and its related heart, kidney, and blood bark sickness in African Americans," says Dr. Kotchen.

His experiment with has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for over a decade.