ABSTRACT
In the USA, hypertension affects over 60 million adults and, depending on diagnostic criteria, the risk of developing hypertension for otherwise normotensive adults aged 55 years has been estimated as 60-90%. Much has been learned about the epidemiology and treatment of hypertension and many mechanisms involved in blood pressure control have been identified; yet there is little or no compelling evidence that abnormalities in one or more of the currently identified mechanisms can explain a significant portion of essential hypertension. This chapter presents a brief overview of the sodium pump-sodium calcium exchange-hypertension hypothesis and recent developments that now suggest that the linked functions of a circulating cardiac glycoside steroid and two membrane transporters participate in the etiology of salt-sensitive essential hypertension.
