Lower body nerve stretch: a role in essential hypertension or pre-eclampsia?

Despite the relatively high incidence of essential hypertension and pregnancy-induced hypertension, the etiologies of these disorders remain enigmatic. A link between stretching of neural structures in the lower body and the induction of hypertension in these disorders is hypothesized. Hypertension has been documented in patients undergoing femoral and tibial lengthening procedures; in experimental models the stretching of lower extremity nerves appeared to be responsible for the increase in blood pressure with bone lengthening. The upright posture of humans puts an added strain on nerves and an increased pressure on lumbar disks may put increasing tension on the nerve roots. The resultant nerve stretch in pregnant women may be exacerbated by the hormone relaxin. A possible link between the stretching of neural structures and the genesis of essential hypertension or pre-eclampsia/eclampsia is hypothesized.