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Stress and Salt Sensitivity in Primary Hypertension

Current Hypertension Reports volume 17, Article number: 2 (2015) Cite this article

Abstract

As the development of hypertension and target organ damage becomes more prevalent, it becomes exceedingly important to determine the underlying mechanisms through which this detrimental development occurs. Specifically, our studies and others have explored mechanisms through which stress elicits a salt-sensitive response in approximately 20–30 % of the population, resulting in the early development of hypertension and target organ damage. Data associated with this stress-induced cardiovascular response pattern have recently demonstrated additional effects across the body systems including factors contributing to the development of osteoporosis, obesity, autoimmune disease, and chronic inflammation. As each of these diseases become more prevalent in conjunction with hypertension, further research may discover stress and salt sensitivity to be at the “heart” of the matter for the development of many of today’s most deadly conditions.

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Conflict of Interest

Deborah L. Stewart, Gregory A. Harshfield, Haidong Zhu, and Coral D. Hanevold declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with animal subjects performed by any of the authors. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Affiliations

  1. Georgia Prevention Institute, Georgia Regents University Augusta, 1120 15th Street, HS 1755, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Deborah L. Stewart, Gregory A. Harshfield & Haidong Zhu

  2. Department of Nephrology, University of Washington, 4800 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Coral D. Hanevold

Authors
  1. Deborah L. Stewart
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  2. Gregory A. Harshfield
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  3. Haidong Zhu
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  4. Coral D. Hanevold
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Correspondence to Deborah L. Stewart.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pediatric Hypertension

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Stewart, D.L., Harshfield, G.A., Zhu, H. et al. Stress and Salt Sensitivity in Primary Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep 17, 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0513-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0513-1

Keywords

  • Stress
  • Salt
  • Hypertension
  • Angiotensin II