Hypertension guide

We've all heard of high blood pressure and hypertension, you may even know it by its 'street name' of the "silent killer", and for good reason. The consequences of having high blood pressure are all not good and include: heart problems, kidney disease and diabetes to name but a few. However the problem gets worse if you are in the third to a half of all patients that don't respond to normal drug treatments. This is what is known as "refractory" hypertension. Renal Denervation may be the solution.

Renal Denervation is a procedure that is not yet widely known, but it can be used to treat high blood pressure and more importantly refractory hypertension, if trials prove successful, such as those being conducted right now by Medtronic, it will certainly become a household name in years to come.

Over the last decade or so RDN has been evolving... It could in fact be a treatment option bordering on being a magic wand for all hypertension sufferers. It sounds complex and scary but is actually quite straightforward and can be performed by a trained medical professional in under an hour, depending on their level of training and expertise and which device they decide to use. The main thing though, is that it seems to work, reducing blood pressure immediately, and over a sustained period of time, which might just mean a single treatment could fix the problem in the longer term.

As a therapy RDN first appeared in clinical papers as recently as 1999 being written about by Michael Scherlag MD from Oklahoma and his co-workers. What their research said was that high blood pressure was caused by a faulty feedback loop in the nervous system. This loop started in the arteries that feed the kidneys, the renal arteries. Their theory was that if the nerves that line the renal arteries could essentially be 'electro-shocked', then the faulty messages they were sending would be stopped and the body would stop creating a high blood pressure scenario. Not too dissimilar to the way that a hyper-active thyroid is treated, it sends the wrong messages creating too much of the thyroid hormone, so we treat it to 'calm it down' and train it not to send that incorrect message out to the body.

Thus far there have been many papers showing that patients who have been treated with Renal Denervation have a lower heart rate, recover more quickly after exercise, have overall improved heart function, all assisting to improve the overall blood pressure of the patient in question, which is the ultimate goal.

Whilst still in its early stages of development and clinical trial, it is not yet approved by the United States FDA, but has been in use in Europe since 2010 and the rest of the world since 2007. Also, Renal Denervation is cost effective, this is obviously important when it comes to being adopted and developed, we all love cheap AND effective medical treatments!

Companies are now developing more and more sophisticated devices for applying renal denervation treatments, so it looks like it is really only a matter of time now, and hopefully not too much time, before high blood pressure is a thing of the past. Not ever developing high blood pressure will of course always be better, but if you find yourself with a hypertension diagnosis, it may well be that you need no longer worry...

This article was written by Andi Hill. To find out more about Renal Denervation go to this website http://www.whatisrenaldenervation.com/.

You can read more about the companies involved in developing the treatments, and the technology itself.

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Hypertension is one of the most common medical problems of the world population. It is very serious because it is silent and only recognized by lesions of the affected organs. It is a vascular disease of the whole organism and leaves "marks" in the affected organs: heart, brain, kidneys, blood vessels and vision.

There are two forms of treatment: with and without drugs.

The treatment without drugs is intended to assist in lowering blood pressure, and if possible avoid the complications and risks through changes in attitudes and ways of living, they are:

Reducing body weight by calorie controlled diet, replace fats of vegetable oils, sugars and to reduce the increase intake of fibersReduce salt, sausages, canned, preserved, cod, beef jerky and cheese snacksReduce alcohol consumptionExercising regularly 30-45 minutes, three to five times per weekQuitting smokingMonitor changes in blood fats (dislipemias), avoiding foods that increase triglycerides as sugars, honey, molasses, brown sugar, alcohol and high in cholesterol or saturated fats, lard, cracklings, whole milk, butter, cream, sausage, salami, ham, fried foods, seafood, kids, chicken skin, tripe, calf's foot jelly, egg yolk, beef fat, palm oil, cashew, peanuts, chocolate and ice creamManage stressReducing salt is very important for hypertensive black race, because in them is more severe hypertension and cardiovascular causes more accidents, requiring constant and periodic medical controlsAvoid drugs that raise blood pressure, oral contraceptives, anti-inflammatory, appetite suppressants, decongestants, antidepressants, steroids, ergot derivatives, stimulants (amphetamines), caffeine, cocaine and others.

Drug treatment aims to reduce cardiovascular disease and mortality in hypertensive patients. So far, the reduction of disease and mortality in patients with mild and moderate hypertension has been demonstrated convincingly with the routine use of drugs on the market. In severe hypertension and / or malignant, the therapeutic difficulties are far greater. The correct choice of medication to treat hypertension is a task of the physician.

In primary or essential hypertension, treatment is nonspecific and requires special attention by the physician. The secondary hypertension has no specific treatment, for example, surgery in tumors adrenal gland or drugs in the treatment of hyperthyroidism.

Drug treatment should observe the following principles:

The drug should be orally effective and well toleratedIt should allow the fewest daily dosesTreatment should be started with the smallest possible doses and gradually increased if necessary or combined with others, with minimal complicationsThe drug must be cost compatible with the socioeconomic conditions of the patient to allow continuity of careThe most serious problem in drug treatment of hypertension is that it may be necessary for life. Then we be convinced of the need for treatment is very important for the patient to have a permanent adherenceThe controls should be medical journals for the adjustment of drug dosages and monitoring the evolution of cardiovascular disease

Questions you can ask your doctor

What is high blood pressure?What level of my blood pressure?Should I check my blood pressure at home?What can happen to me if I do not treat high blood pressure?What are the side effects of treatment?

For the treatment of hypertension, you first need to change your lifestyle and using modern medications, such as Revatio or Zebeta (Bisoprolol).

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