New Delhi, August 26
In a major breakthrough expected to revolutionise the treatment of hypertension across the world, researchers in Melbourne have shown how drug-free treatment can be effectively used to improve control of blood pressure in patients who do not respond to medication.
In clinical trials recently conducted in Melbourne on 50 patients from Australia as well as overseas, scientists found people who were administered catheter-based treatment for high blood pressure responded effectively where medication had failed. The process involved the use of a new surgical technique to block nerves around the kidneys and reduces hypertension.
The study is very significant as it could help five to 25 per cent of hypertensive patients who have stopped responding to medicines. The new method is particularly beneficial for those at high risk, especially in this country with the Hypertension Society of India (HIS) warning of an increase in high BP risk factors leading to complications. Nearly one-third of the population is expected to become hypertensive by 2015 at a time when the global incidence is on the decline, HIS has estimated.
The researchers say catheters would help those at high risk of heart attack or stroke aggravated by high blood pressure, and who are resistant to conventional drug treatment. The research results have been promising with an excellent safety profile of catheter-based therapy, which is also very brief besides being effective.
No long-term adverse events resulted from the procedure that was carried out under a local anesthetic and used radio energy frequency delivered to the targeted nerve area via a catheter. This caused the nerves to be silenced in the renal artery that supplies blood to the kidneys. It has long been believed this region is a key regulator of BP.
