Galway Bay fm newsroom - UHG has commenced a clinical trial to evaluate a new, investigational treatment for patients with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure, if untreated, can lead to stroke, heart failure, kidney disease among many other complications.
The standard treatment includes diet, exercise and prescription medication.
The new technique under trial for treating high blood pressure is minimally invasive and is carried out under mild sedation.
Medics use a special catheter which is inserted through a small incision in the groin and guided to the renal arteries using angiography.
The catheter then delivers a small dose of medical alcohol to the area just outside the renal artery where the nerves that contribute to the increase in blood pressure are located.
The alcohol has the effect of deactivating the over-signalling of the nerves and this in turn reduces the blood pressure.
The clinical trial is underway in 25 hospitals in Europe.
