New approaches to controlling blood pressure are on the horizon, but ultimately the most powerful step patients can take is to improve their lifestyle, particularly reducing salt intake.
“It’s an exciting time in blood pressure management,” says George Bakris, MD, member of the National Kidney Foundation board of directors and a professor of medicine and director of the ASH Comprehensive Hypertension Center at The University of Chicago Medicine. “We have some really promising new techniques to lower blood pressure in kidney disease that are being investigated as we speak.”
However, during a session co-chaired by Bakris, experts reaffirm that the most effective way to lower blood pressure in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is to stop smoking, start exercising and make other healthy changes. In particular, Bakris says doctors need to do a better job of educating patients about the importance of reducing salt intake—without that, any other measure won’t make much of a difference. “Doctors can prescribe as much medication as they like, but if patients continue to eat a high salt diet, their blood pressure will never be fully controlled,” he says. ~renalbusinesstoday~
