Following yesterday's blog, I just came across another article attributing "salt-sensitivity" to abnormally high levels of aldosterone . Admittedly, this research was carried out on mice, but their mamallian renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system works similarly to that of humans. The report states that mice lacking normal components of circadian clock controls (the 24-hour cycle of biochemical, physiological, or behavioral processes) show salt-sensitive hypertension due to the production of abnormally high levels of aldosterone by the adrenal glands. In fact, the authors recommend this to be a new hypertension risk factor in mice. Based upon the evidence, high aldosterone levels should move way up the chain of risk factors for humans as well.
This is another example where salt-sensitivity is not an independent medical condition, but an overt manifestation of a more profound physiological disturbance resulting in excessive aldosterone production. It is control over aldosterone levels which will be the critical strategy for treatment.
The evidence continues to build....
