Resistant Hypertension incidence increased 2X in 20 years – vitamin D might help

Hypertension which does not respond to 3 types of hypertension reducing drugs is defined as Resistant Hypertension

Does a Vitamin D Boost Help in Resistant Hypertension Control?

American Heart Association Editorial – March 2014
Resistant hypertension (RH) is an heterogeneous condition pragmatically defined on the basis of the number of drugs being taken by individual patients.
Secondary forms of hypertension, including

• obesity,
• chronic kidney disease,
• renal artery stenosis,
• hyperaldosteronism,
• obstructive sleep apnea, and
• rare forms of hypertension such as pheochromocytoma and coarctation of the aorta,

are more frequently resistant to treatment than essential hypertension (EH).
However, due to the large prevalence of EH in the general population, at community level, EH is the most prevalent cause of RH. Resistance to treatment portends a high risk for cardiovascular events and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, which is per se a strong risk factor for heart failure, coronary heart disease events, and arrhythmia, is a hallmark of this condition. RH should be regarded as a relevant public health issue because observations in the frame of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey documented a doubling in the prevalence of RH for 20 years, the prevalence of RH being

• 5.5% in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988 to 1994 and
• 11.8% in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005 to 2008.1

Vitamin D Therapy to Reduce Blood Pressure and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Resistant Hypertension RCT March 2014

Tried to reduce RH, but used only 100,000 IU of vitamin D once every 60 days – an average of 1700 IU per day, a small dose. Not unexpectedly no benefit was found.

Resistant Hypertension: Incidence, Prevalence and Prognosis Feb 2012, full text online

. . . between 2005-2008, the estimated prevalence was 11.8%. With an estimated 76 million adult Americans with hypertension, a prevalence rate of almost 12% would translate into an estimated 9 million Americans with resistant hypertension

What is the prevalence of resistant hypertension in the United States? July 2012

. . . resistant hypertension is becoming more prevalent (e.g., 20.7% in 2005-2008), due to aging and increased obesity in the general population. Resistant hypertension was more frequent in people who were older, obese, male, African American or nonblack Hispanic.

Note by VitaminDWiki: RH was more frequent in exactly those groups which are at high risk of being vitamin D deficient.

Poor Sleep Increases Risk of Hard-to-Treat Hypertension Mercola, March 2013

. . . women who had resistant hypertension were five times as likely to also have poor sleep quality.

VitaminDWiki notices that poor sleep is also associated with low levels of vitamin D.

Google Search for “Resistant Hypertension” AND “Vitamin D” 795,000 hits as of March 2014

See also VitaminDWiki

• Overview Hypertension and Vitamin D
• Sleep category, with searches for COPD and Sleep Apnea
• Sleep disorders cured by 60-80 ng of vitamin D and some B vitamins – March 2013
• Hypertension not reduced by drugs (Resistant Hypertension) in patients with low vitamin D