Doctors zap high blood pressures with radio waves

A RADICAL therapy that zaps the kidneys with radio waves could provide a permanent cure for high blood pressure, research shows. The procedure may be available on the United Kingdom National Health Scheme (NHS) as early as next year after trials showed it produced dramatic improvements in the condition.The breakthrough could bring hope to the thousands of patients who do not respond to drugs.Changes in lifestyle, such as cutting back on salt and alcohol and exercising, can control blood pressure and there are a number of drug treatments available. But many who are on medication, as many as five different types, still have difficulty with it. It is this group who can be helped.Prof. Mark Caulfield, who has been involved in trials of the technique ' known as renal denervation ' said: 'I hope that this will be offered on the NHS no later than April 2013. It could make a profound difference to a significant minority of high-risk patients, it might be tens of thousands.'The technique uses a burst of radiofrequency energy delivered through a catheter to knock out a number of tiny nerves that run in the lining of the arteries of the kidney. High blood pressure is sometimes caused by faulty signals from the brain to these nerves.Latest findings from a trial show reductions in blood pressure persist for at least 18 months after treatment. Doctors in the UK are setting up a registry to allow long-term monitoring of all those having the procedure, but so far trials have shown no ill-effects.
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