A revolutionary treatment for high blood pressure?

Washington, Apr 2 (PTI) Scientists have developed a "world-first" treatment to lower high blood pressure and the risk of sudden death, a finding they claim could revolutionise treatment options for hypertension around the world.

An international team, led by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia, has developed the "catheter- based treatment" for life threatening high blood pressure and it also reduces the risk of stroke. According to them, the treatment involves inserting a catheter through the femoral artery of patients suffering from severe and resistant hypertension -- a dangerous form which doesn't always respond adequately to traditional medications.
The procedure, conducted under a local anaesthetic, uses radio energy frequency delivered via catheter to silence sympathetic nerves in renal artery -- the artery delivering blood supply to the kidneys, they said.

This one-off procedure, conducted on both kidneys, has the potential to substantially reduce the premature ill health and mortality attributed to high blood pressure, a university release said.

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