Hormonal
Excess weight gain causes hypertension primarily through activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), mediated by leptin and melanocortin receptors, leading to increased renal sodium reabsorption and impaired pressure natriuresis.
If you are obese, your high blood pressure is likely driven by your nervous system being overactive due to hormonal signals from fat cells. Losing weight helps, but understanding that your body's 'thermostat' for blood pressure is set too high by these signals is key. Treatments that block these signals (like certain blood pressure meds) are often more effective in obese individuals.
Excess weight gain contributes to increased blood pressure in most patients with essential hypertension... Several mechanisms contribute to altered kidney function and hypertension in obesity, including activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which appears to be mediated in part by increased levels of the adipocyte-derived hormone leptin, stimulation of pro-opiomelanocortin neurons, and subsequent activation of central nervous system melanocortin 4 receptors.
Why this rating
Based on a minireview summarizing multiple human and animal studies, including clinical observations and pharmacological interventions.
Source
Obesity-induced Hypertension: Role of Sympathetic Nervous System, Leptin, and Melanocortins
John E. Hall et al. · Journal of Biological Chemistry · 2010
DOI 10.1074/jbc.r110.113175
More from this paper
- Obesity induces 'selective leptin resistance' where the appetite-suppressing effects of leptin are blunted, but the blood pressure-raising effects (via SNS activation) remain intact.Good
- Activation of the central melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is necessary for obesity to increase sympathetic nervous system activity and arterial pressure.Good
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