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Nighttime Aldosterone Surges May Hide Treatable High Blood Pressure
Some people have high blood pressure because their bodies make too much of a hormone called aldosterone.
This hormone tells the kidneys to keep extra salt and water.
Extra salt and water can make blood pressure rise.
The hormone may come in short bursts, especially while a person is sleeping.
A regular blood test takes only one snapshot and may miss a burst.
In the study, researchers used a wearable device to check hormone levels every 20 minutes.
They studied 60 patients in four cities.
The device showed nighttime hormone patterns that ordinary testing might not detect.
More research is needed before this method can be used routinely by doctors.
A study found that primary aldosteronism may release aldosterone in nighttime bursts.
These temporary hormone surges can be missed by routine single blood tests.
Researchers monitored 60 patients continuously for 24 hours using the wearable U-RHYTHM system.
The strongest unusual patterns appeared in some patients whose condition involved one adrenal gland.
Researchers said continuous monitoring could improve diagnosis, but the technology is not yet a routine clinical test.
- Who
- Researchers studied 60 patients and included work led by Thomas Upton and Eder Zavala.
- What
- The study examined whether nighttime bursts of aldosterone can cause primary aldosteronism to be missed by routine blood tests.
- Where
- Patients were monitored at home in Bristol, Bergen, Stockholm and Athens.
- When
- The study monitored hormone levels continuously over a 24-hour period; its publication date was not specified.
- Why
- To better detect primary aldosteronism, a potentially treatable cause of high blood pressure that may be missed by single-time-point testing.
Key facts
- Condition studied
- Primary aldosteronism, in which the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone.
- Hormone effect
- Excess aldosterone can cause the kidneys to retain sodium and water, raising blood pressure.
- Study size
- 60 patients.
- Monitoring period
- 24 hours.
- Monitoring device
- The wearable U-RHYTHM system collected samples from the skin every 20 minutes.
- Additional hormones measured
- 18-hydroxycortisol and 18-oxocortisol, along with aldosterone.
- Current status
- Continuous hormone monitoring remains a proof-of-concept approach and is not yet a routine diagnostic test.
Quotes
Dr Thomas Upton
Clinical research fellow at the University of Bristol and senior clinical fellow at Bristol Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
“Primary aldosteronism is an important cause of high blood pressure and the most common cause of secondary hypertension we see in our blood pressure clinic. It could be affecting millions of people in the UK. However, due to the way hormones change during the day and the current complexity of the diagnostic process, diagnosis is often delayed or never made at all.”
NDTV
“In our study, patients were monitored at home during normal activity, and this allowed us to see how hormones changed over time in realistic settings. This approach could potentially revolutionize how we diagnose hypertension and ultimately reduce cardiovascular disease - particularly heart disease and strokes - that could have been prevented.”
NDTV
Sources
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