CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered how long-term treatment of high blood pressure with commonly prescribed drugs can destroy the kidney’s ability to filter and purify blood. The finding could open the door to better ways to manage high blood pressure and other vascular diseases.
The class of drugs, known as renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors, are widely used as first-line medications for hypertension (high blood pressure).
But long-term use can take a terrible toll on the kidney, causing scarring and other dramatic physical changes that shift the organ’s focus from blood filtration to producing renin. A UVA Health release says “no longer able to clean the blood of impurities, the Frankensteined kidney becomes a “pathological neuro-immune endocrine organ,” as the UVA researchers describe it in a new scientific paper, that can cause serious health problems”. But they say their discovery sets the stage for identifying ways to protect the kidney and better treat hypertension.
Click here for the entire UVA Health release.