APR 2, patients and their maladies: aldosterone excess (Conn's syndrome)

Authors' Note:  High blood pressure (hypertension), most commonly has no definable cause. Rarely, there is a relatively fixed and excessive production of aldosterone, a hormone produced by the cortex of the adrenal glands to regulate the exchange of sodium and potassium in the kidney. The medical entity was known historically as Conn's syndrome. The abnormal hormone levels are due to an overgrowth of well-differentiated adrenal cells, resulting in either a small localized benign tumor, or to diffuse overgrowth of both glands.

The levels of blood pressure attained are relatively mild, and the local disorder of growth in the adrenal glands does not develop malignant transformation. Nonetheless, the disorder is best treated specifically, sometimes requiring adrenal surgery.

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