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New Approach to Reduce Hard-to-Treat Blood Pressure

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How Do I Take My Blood Pressure at Home?

Having high blood pressure, or hypertension, puts you at risk for serious health conditions, including heart disease, heart attack, kidney damage and stroke. Sometimes even with lifestyle changes and medical management, some people have resistant hypertension, or high blood pressure that doesn’t respond to medication or changes to diet and exercise.

“Though lifestyle modification and medical therapy remain the mainstay of care, renal denervation has demonstrated effectiveness in multiple clinical trials.” - Shailendra Singh, MD

A new approach to resistant hypertension is now available called renal denervation, or RDN. Renal nerves (that are found in the arteries leading to the kidneys) can become overactive and contribute to high blood pressure. Two FDA-approved therapies focus on interrupting renal nerve fibers using ablation techniques – either radiofrequency or ultrasound energy – to damage targeted renal nerves. Following treatment, many people no longer need blood pressure medications or can use a reduced dosage.

Interventional cardiologist Shailendra Singh, MD, says the addition of RDN will help people who have difficult-to-control blood pressure and are at risk for cardiovascular disease.

“Though lifestyle modification and medical therapy remain the mainstay of care, renal denervation has demonstrated effectiveness in multiple clinical trials,” he says.

RDN is available at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute.

Speak with your cardiologist or primary care clinician for a referral.

Blood pressure

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against artery walls. It’s generated with each heartbeat. If you need care for hypertension, you’re in experienced hands at Lehigh Valley Heart Institute.

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