New Radio Frequency Treatment Used for Hypertension
For thousands of patients who don’t respond to drugs (that shouldn’t even be taken), a new therapy that targets the kidneys with radio waves could be the cure. In the most recent trial, reduced blood pressure—and no ill side-effects—persists in patients at least 18 months after a radio frequency treatment called renal denervation. Long-term monitoring will continue, but the Daily Mail says that the procedure could be available on England’s National Health Service (NHS) next year.
High Blood Pressure in America
In Britain, 16 million people suffer from high blood pressure, and many of them don’t even know it. The figures in America are no better. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 1 in 3 adults—about 68 million—have high blood pressure, and even children are at risk. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. No wonder they are, respectively, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States.
Predictably, our primary treatment has been through expensive drugs, although you can naturally lower blood pressure simply with foods.
Radio Frequency Treatment – Renal Denervation to Improve Blood Pressure
This new radio frequency treatment could help individuals who don’t respond to the myriad of dangerous high blood pressure drugs on the market. Patients would undergo a burst of radiofrequency energy through a catheter to affect the nerves along the lining of the kidney’s arteries. These nerves sometimes send flawed signals to the brain in patients with high blood pressure. We can only hope for those engaging in such a treatment that the radio waves won’t be strong enough to do serious damage. Luckily, it would only be done twice every 3 years.
Dr. Murray Esler from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne, Australia, says, ‘We are encouraged to see renal denervation showed substantial and sustained reduction in treatment-resistant patients.’ He finds promise in a treatment that could provide an alternative to those for whom ‘until now there hasn’t been one.’
Home Remedies to Help with High Blood Pressure
Of course, no one needs radio frequency therapy or medications to take care of high blood pressure.
Traditional physicians advocate simply cutting back on alcohol and cigarettes as well as increasing exercise to remedy high blood pressure. In addition, you’ll want to avoid foods with fructose and cut down on sugar consumption, as these foods have been linked with high blood pressure. Radical changes in diet—eating whole, organic, fresh foods—have yet to be widely considered a remedy. But in case you’re wondering, here are some home remedies for high blood pressure.
