A Biased Guide to Renal Hypertension

Abstract

To the uninitiated looking into the field of hypertension due to renal causes— and of course to many there is no other form of hypertension—there is presented a bewildering prospect. This is made worse by each succeeding conference, for within the published proceedings of such conferences (Circulation 17:2, 1958) each clear statement about the mechanism of hypertension, both human and experimental, seems to be balanced by a contradictory one. Going further into the subject and reading the evidence might cause further bemusement, since what is said here is said in hundreds of voices instead of the one at the conference. Why is it that the field of hypertension is so confusing? I believe this state has arisen for a number of reasons which are worth considering, and I should like to present here a highly biased guide to the field. Some of the main ways in which the kidney could