If your high blood pressure has been hard to treat, it may be due to an accumulation of lead in your outer layer of shin bone.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that this interesting link may lead to new treatments in high blood pressure that is drug-resistant.
The link between lead and resistant high blood pressure
The research came from a team at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor. A team looked at 475 veterans who all had high blood pressure. Of those men, 97 met the criteria for drug-resistant hypertension.
The team adjusted for a variety of factors, such as race, age, weigh, education, income, smoking and other things, and then determined that for every 15 micrograms of lead per gram of bone in the tibia, the participant had a 19% greater risk of developing resistant high blood pressure.
The link was not there when comparing resistant hypertension and blood lead, or hypertension and lead in the kneecap.
There’s always a chance that the resistant hypertension was due to the participant using over-the-counter medication or not taking their current blood pressure medications as prescribed.
By definition, drug-resistant high blood pressure refers to instances in which people have to take four or more drugs from different classes to get their hypertension under control.
What’s the lead from?
The team theorized that the lead build-up could be from when the United States used to allow lead in gasoline. Before the regulations changed, breathing in fumes from road traffic was a main source of lead exposure. The lead also built up in the soil near roads. It’s also possible that the men were exposed to lead through “aging infrastructure,” such as water pipes that still contain lead. This has been a major concern in Flint, Michigan, where lead in the drinking water is leading countless residents to consume bottled water to avoid getting sick.
