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Why Standard Tests Miss This Common Cause of Hypertension

A study shows that primary aldosteronism causes nighttime hormone surges that standard daytime blood tests often miss, leading to undiagnosed hypertension.

Jyotismita Choudhury | | 2 min read

Why Standard Tests Miss This Common Cause of Hypertension
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In This Story

A subtle, nighttime hormone surge may explain why millions of people with high blood pressure go undiagnosed, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine.

Using a wearable monitoring device, researchers from the University of Bristol discovered that primary aldosteronism causes unexpected bursts of hormone production while patients sleep—a pattern traditional daytime blood tests completely miss.

Key Findings

  1. Affects Up to 1 in 5: Primary aldosteronism causes the adrenal glands to overproduce aldosterone, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
  2. Nighttime Bursts: Hormone levels spike in repeated surges overnight. Because levels can drop back to normal during the day, single blood tests at a clinic often return false negatives.
  3. Around-the-Clock Tracking: Using a waist-worn device called U-RHYTHM, researchers sampled skin hormones every 20 minutes for 24 hours while patients went about their normal daily lives.

Why It Matters

Unlike many forms of hypertension, primary aldosteronism can often be targeted or cured with medication or surgery. Continuous 24-hour hormone tracking could soon replace single blood tests, helping doctors catch and treat the root cause of high blood pressure much earlier.


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