Lowering Blood Pressure: Drug Free Vascular Surgeons Lower Blood Pressure with Implanted Device

A new cell phone-sized implant can keep blood pressure in check from within the chest, just like a pacemaker controls heartbeats. When the device detects a rise in pressure, it sends electrical signals to the brain via the carotid arteries in the neck. The brain then signals the body's own natural system to reduce blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a problem for millions of people. Previously, medication and diet were all doctors had to control it. Now a new device can help lower blood pressure and keep people alive and active longer.

Baby Jamier is Annette Lawrence's pride and joy, but until now she didn't have enough energy to enjoy her new grandson. "Before I couldn't even get out of bed. I couldn't really do anything."

At just 37, she lived every day with life-threatening high blood pressure. Karl Illig, a vascular surgeon at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., says, "She constantly had blood pressure up in the 200s." Dr. Illig was the first doctor in the nation to try the new device. "[The device] is basically like a pacemaker. That's the best way to look at it."

The Rheos Baroreflex Hypertension System is saving Lawrence's life. It is as small as a cell phone and inside her chest. The device works by sending electrical impulses to the carotid arteries in the neck. "That electrical signal is then sent up the nerves into the brain telling the brain, 'Ah ha! Your blood pressure's too high,'" Dr. Illig explains. Then, the brain sends signals to decrease the heart rate, open blood vessels, and release more fluid from the kidneys, activating the body's existing system to naturally reduce blood pressure.

Dr. Illig says, "The blood pressure really is too high, but the brain doesn't sense it that way so this is kind of giving it a kick start." With the device turned off, Annette's blood pressure is 175/ 104. When it's turned on, her blood pressure drops to 143/ 86 -- right on track. "Since I had this procedure done, boy I tell ya, I've got so much energy. I'm ready to keep up with [my grandson]," Laurence says.

The risks of receiving the system are relatively low. Patients are put under a general anesthesia and undergo a two-to three-hour operation. So far, there are no visible side effects to the system. This device is not for everyone. Patients must have tried and failed all other medications.

Source: Science daily 2005

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