Hypertension sufferers will be pleased to know that there’s a new alternative to traditional medications in the works. A simple kidney procedure appears to be effective in sharply reducing blood pressure in patients whose hypertension cannot be managed with conventional treatments, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
The treatment involves a surgical procedure that delivers radiofrequency energy to kidney nerves.
The findings were published in “The Lancet” and were released Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago.
The study monitored 52 patients who, despite taking up to five hypertension medications, averaged a blood pressure reading of 178/96. The procedure lowered their blood pressure by an average of 32/12.
Researchers only followed the subjects for six months, but an earlier trial of the procedure monitored patients for up to two and a half years without seeing a return of high blood pressure.
The procedure, which produced no significant side effects, takes 40 to 60 minutes to perform.
Study author Murray Essler, a cardiologist and scientist at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia, hopes to perform future trials on patients with mild hypertension. in patients with less severe symptoms, he believes the treatment may result in a full-on cure.
“We’re slowly moving toward that, but to cure hypertension is probably still a dream,” he said.