CHAPEL HILL, NC (Ivanhoe Newswire) — High blood pressure has been called the silent killer. Nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, but many don't even know it. Most people have few or no symptoms. Lifestyle changes like exercise, eating right, and not smoking can help some people. Medications are available, but many have side effects that some people can't tolerate. There is now a new FDA-approved treatment that lowers blood pressure without the side effects.
Billy Mason's farm has been thriving for 17 years.
“I'm an organic tomato farmer. I specialize in growing heirloom tomatoes and I own the domain tomatogod.com,” he said.
They not only enjoy the fruits of their labor externally, but also the fruits of their labor internally.
“I love life and I love creating and growing things,” Mason says.
Mason has had high blood pressure for the past 30 years, but that didn't stop him – at times he was taking up to eight different medications.
“Then his blood pressure rose and he was rushed to the emergency room,” he said.
Now, people like Billy who are resistant to medication or fed up with the side effects have another option: renal nerve blockade.
“In people with high blood pressure, there's a lot of nerve communication going on between the brain and the kidneys. The brain tells the kidneys to conserve sodium, and the kidneys tell the brain to constrict blood vessels. It's like two teenagers fighting,” said Dr. Rick Stauffer, an interventional cardiologist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Renal denervation works by altering nerve communication between the head and the kidney.
“We'll insert a catheter through the femoral artery in your leg and go up to your kidney to modify the nerves on both sides,” Dr. Stauffer explained.
Ultrasound is then used to disrupt the function of these nerves.
“And over time, that nerve flow slows down and your blood pressure drops,” Dr. Stouffer said.
It worked well for Mason.
“I'm 73 and I'm still going strong,” he said.
His blood pressure went down and he was able to work again doing what he loved.
The FDA has approved two renal nerve denervation devices. After the procedure, everything is removed and the patient goes home the same day. Side effects include a small risk of infection from the catheter insertion, but there is no damage to the arteries and the risk is less than 1%.
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