Curable Hypertension: Primary Aldosteronism - Paperback

by Janet Walberg Rankin Ph. D. (Author)

If your blood pressure is difficult to control in spite of multiple medications, especially if your blood potassium is low, you may be one of the millions of people who have primary aldosteronism but have not been correctly diagnosed or treated. People with this condition have about six times the risk of a heart attack as someone with the same blood pressure from primary hypertension. Fortunately, effective surgical and medical treatments exist to control and reduce the risks of this condition for most people. Janet Walberg Rankin, Ph.D. wrote the book she would have wanted when she developed sudden, unexplained high blood pressure at age 58 in spite of healthy behaviors and a lack of family history for hypertension. As her doctors struggled to understand what was causing her health problems and prescribed multiple ineffective medications, she began reading the medical literature. She hypothesized she had primary aldosteronism, a condition that many doctors believe is rare but is more recently understood to cause high blood pressure in 1 out of 10 hypertensive patients. After experiencing a "miracle cure" when she began the appropriate medication and diet, she wrote this book sharing what she learned through reading the medical literature and talking to other patients and doctors about the incidence, causes, diagnosis, treatment, and dietary management of primary aldosteronism. Quotes from other patients with primary aldosteronism highlight the struggles, personal experiences, and tips for management of this condition. Dr. Robert M. Carey, M.D., a medical expert on endocrine hypertension, provides his insights in a Foreword. Dr. Rankin wrote this book to share what she has learned about this highly treatable but tragically under-diagnosed disease.

Author Biography

Janet Walberg Rankin, Ph.D., a professor in the department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech, is passionate about a healthy lifestyle as a means to experience an active and full life.