An international team of scientists, led by researchers from Maastricht University (UM), claims to have discovered one of the causes of high blood pressure.
The researchers state that the newly discovered cause can be treated with already registered drugs that are now used for other conditions. Until now, only symptom control was possible for high blood pressure.
High blood pressure increases the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke or heart failure. This makes hypertension one of the most important causes of death or permanent injury in the world. But in 95 percent of all cases, the molecular mechanism that causes hypertension is unknown.
As a result, patients are often treated with drugs that widen the blood vessels to treat only the symptoms of high blood pressure. Most patients therefore continue to struggle with the long-term consequences of hypertension, such as heart attacks or strokes.
The researchers suspect that hypertension is the result of a certain protein (Nox5) that is the source of so-called oxygen radicals in the walls of blood vessels. These radicals disrupt a process that normally helps to prevent narrowing of the arteries and prevent thrombosis. This has identified the first causal mechanism of primary hypertension in humans, the researchers said.
Belgian
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