A recent study by the Medical College of Georgia studied the connection between Aldosterone and blood pressure in women.
The study found that medications to block the hormone aldosterone may greatly benefit hypertensive women and lower their.
What is Aldosterone?
Aldosterone is a hormone more abundant in women than men, however, high levels of aldosterone can cause damage to the cardiovascular system.
However, obesity and diabetes can make levels of aldosterone skyrocket and can be a major driver of hypertension.
Aldosterone is a hormone produced in the outer section (cortex) of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys. It plays a central role in the regulation of blood pressure.
This hormone mainly acts on organs such as the kidney and the colon to increase the amount of salt (sodium) reabsorbed into the bloodstream and the amount of another salt called potassium removed in the urine.
It can also causes water to be reabsorbed along with sodium; this increases blood volume and therefore blood pressure.
Thus,it indirectly regulates blood levels of electrolytes (sodium, potassium and hydrogen) and helps to maintain the blood pH.
What does it do?
Aldosterone is part of a group of linked hormones, which form the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system.
Activation of this system occurs when there is decrease in blood flow to the kidneys following loss of blood volume or a drop in blood pressure (e.g. due to a hemorrhage) or decrease in plasma sodium concentration.
Renin is the enzyme that leads to a series of chemical reactions resulting in the production of angiotensin II, which in turn stimulate aldosterone release.
Aldosterone causes an increase in salt and water re-absorption into the bloodstream from the kidney thereby increasing the blood volume, restoring salt levels and blood pressure.
Once salt levels and blood pressure are corrected and the body becomes re-hydrated, the level of renin in the bloodstream falls and therefore the amount of aldosterone in the blood also falls, meaning more water is excreted in the urine.
Aldosterone Symptoms
The most common cause of high aldosterone levels is excess production. The symptoms include high blood pressure, low blood levels of potassium, an abnormal increase in blood volume and sometimes the blood becomes alkaline indirectly as a consequence of the action of aldosterone in promoting acid secretion.
When women are hypertensive their physicians should consider measuring their level of aldosterone, a hormone that at high levels damages the cardiovascular system, scientists say.
“If aldosterone levels are high, they should consider prescribing drugs that directly target the hormone’s receptor”
says Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist in the Vascular Biology Center and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Conclusion
“We are finding more evidence that higher aldosterone levels in women translate to higher blood pressure and that the most effective way to treat hypertensive women likely is to target this hormone and its receptor”
Belin de Chantemele said, referencing what appears to be another clear distinction emerging between men and women.”
Belin de Chantemele notes that clinical studies already have provided some evidence that mineralocorticoid receptor blockers, like the old hypertensive agent Aldactone, work better at reducing blood pressure and cardiovascular risk in women than men.
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I think aldosterone levels will affect both genders. I myself was diagnosed with low renin and aldosterone which was part of adrenal insufficiency. This scenario=low blood pressure and usually involves low cortisol and DHEA.
I read with interest your article on aldosterone levels affecting hypertension. My question is, what blood test, specifically, will give the most accurate reading of aldosterone levels to determine if this is contributing to hypertension?
Hi Jan, That would be up to your physician. I would not know what specific test they use. Kindest Regards, Eli, Content Manager. RESPeRATE.