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[Calcium and hypertension]
1Interní klinika 2. LF UK, FN Pod Petrínem, Praha.
Insights
Calcium influences blood pressure, particularly in essential hypertension. Calcium administration lowers blood pressure in low-renin patients, while high-renin patients benefit more from angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular medicine
- Nephrology
- Clinical pharmacology
Abstract:
Epidemiological, metabolic and intervention studies provided evidence of the interrelationship of calcium and high blood pressure. Patients with essential hypertension and low renin levels respond by a rise of blood pressure to administration of salt, while the pressure declines after calcium administration. Patients with a high renin activity are less sensitive to salt and calcium. The mentioned findings are probably associated with an impaired calcium transmission through the cellular membrane; the structural background of the phenomenon is not known so far. An important finding is the favourable therapeutic effect of calcium channel blockers in hypertonic patients with a low renin activity and conversely a greater effect of inhibitors of the angiotensin convertin enzyme in patients with a high renin level.