(Science Daily) — Scientists have identified what could be a biological tipping point in the development of high blood pressure, in a discovery that could one day lead to new treatment.
High blood pressure affects around one in three adults, the equivalent of approximately 16million people in the UK. People with high blood pressure are at much greater risk of heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease, and it is the main risk factor for stroke.
It is well known that blood pressure is influenced by three biological factors — how fast the heart beats; how open and flexible the arteries are; and how much blood there is pumping through the blood vessels. High blood pressure is thought to be a result of an imbalance in certain chemicals that control these factors. Yet no one knows exactly what goes on within the body to influence these blood pressure controls.
Researchers from St George’s, University of London have discovered that reduced activity of a protein involved in keeping arteries relaxed — a potassium channel called Kv7.4 — may be a fundamental step in the development of high blood pressure. They found that this channel is present in the main artery supplying blood to the kidney — the renal artery — and believe that reduced levels of activity here could kick-start a chain reaction inside the body that is known to increase blood pressure.
Kv7.4 channels allow the passage of potassium out of the muscle cells in blood vessels and they have to be open and closed at the right times so that the vessel muscles can contract or relax when required. They are most commonly recognised for their role in instructing the blood vessels to expand in reaction to triggers, such as adrenaline, to allow more blood and oxygen to travel to the tissues when needed.
In laboratory studies, the St George’s researchers have shown that when the Kv7.4 channel is disabled the body does not react to triggers telling it to widen the artery and blood flow becomes constricted. The researchers explain that the impact of this in one artery or two arteries is unlikely to cause high blood pressure. But because they found that Kv7.4 channels were present in the renal artery they believe this could act as a “tipping point” for high blood pressure
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pays to get your aldosterone levels check also to see how your kidney function is doing 😉
Let us not forget to have mitral valve prolapse checked , this is a two step ck, first a treadmill test immediately followed by a sonogram to ck the valve, this problem causes adrenaline to shoot the blood pressure up to high numbers even if one is relaxing or not. Having just one of these tests by themselves does not show the leaking valve
Interesting article, but my intuition tells me this is not the cause for most HBP. Also, HBP is a risk factor for stroke but typically only for Hemmorraghic stroke which accounts for less than 8% of all strokes. 92% of all strokes, like heart attacks are ischemic and are typically due to high cholesterol.