Is Your Blood Pressure Unresponsive to Treatment?

It is very common for patients to see their medical provider and be told that they have elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Depending on the severity of the hypertension, patients may advised to reduce the blood pressure with stress reduction, dietary changes such as reducing salt and sugars, while other patients will be prescribed a blood pressure reducing medication. While most patients will have good results with one or more prescription medications, many continue to have elevated blood pressure that is unresponsive or only partially responsive to treatment.

So what is missing? Your kidney health might be the cause. Our kidneys play a primary role in our blood pressure. As blood flows through the kidneys, the flow rate is measured. If the flow of blood is too low, the kidney will send out a chemical that causes the muscles around the arteries to constrict causing an increase in blood pressure. If the kidney is not functioning properly, blood pressure may not be well controlled well with this mechanism.

The kidneys are just one part of the blood pressure control system but it’s a part that I often see neglected. Overall kidney function can be evaluated with blood and urine tests. I have seen, in many instances that kidney function was never evaluated when someone was treated for hypertension that didn’t seem to respond well to medications, diet changes or adequate water consumption. For some of these patients, more and more medications were added with little or no effect and the patient is, ultimately, found to be in renal (kidney) failure and is unaware of it. While some of these patients can have acute kidney disease, most have chronic kidney disease (CKD) that has gradually worsened over years.

Some medications for chronic kidney disease (CKD) can slow the decline of the kidney function but may not improve the function. I frequently recommend herbal therapies in my practice that can increase kidney function.

If you have uncontrolled hypertension, make sure that your doctor is evaluating causes such as kidney and lung function. If you have chronic kidney disease (CKD), consider being evaluated by a nephrologist to explore pharmaceutical options and to discuss herbal options, consider finding a naturopathic doctor in your area.

Namaste,
Dr. A