|  | Conditions Treatments | Heart Disease

Hypertension & Wilson's Temperature Syndrome

Any connection between hypertension and Wilson's Temperature Disorder hinges on the latter's legitimacy as a thyroid condition. Studies have linked hypertension to thyroid problems, which Wilson's Temperature Syndrome claims to be, but medical science currently refuses to recognize the syndrome as a medical ailment in its own right.

  1. Hypertension

    • If you are diagnosed with hypertension, or high blood pressure, it means that your blood resists the pumping action of your heart with too much force. Untreated hypertension can wreak havoc throughout the body. Damage to blood vessels can lead to organ failure, stroke, or loss of vision, while the extra burden on the heart to pump blood against the higher pressure can cause eventual heart failure. Since hypertension rarely presents symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage, this damage can go on for years without the sufferer ever realizing it.

    Causes and Treatment

    • Most cases of hypertension occur for no known reason. This form of the disease is known as primary or essential hypertension and tends to sneak up on its victims over the years. In another form known as secondary hypertension, certain drugs (legal and illegal) or illnesses can cause blood pressure to rise suddenly.

      Treatment may require a combination of medication and lifestyle changes. Medications can help by lowering blood volume, relaxing and expanding blood vessels, or reducing heart rate. Patients may also have to reduce their salt intake, exercise more, or give up smoking.

    Wilson's Temperature Syndrome

    • Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, a grouping of 37 conditions and symptoms related to low body temperature, was first identified by Dr. E. Denis Wilson. Dr. Wilson states that metabolism normally tends to drop in times of stress, but in some cases it refuses to return to normal levels after the stress has passed. Dr. Wilson believes that this syndrome represents a form of hypothyroidism, a lowered metabolism caused by an underactive thyroid gland. Wilson recommends treatment with the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3).

    Relationship to Hypothyroidism

    • Wilson's Temperature Syndrome has come under fire by the medical community. The American Thyroid Association has debunked Dr. Wilson's theories in a press release stating, "The theory proposed to explain this condition is at odds with established facts about thyroid hormone." The statement points out that the normal range of human body temperature is much wider than Dr. Wilson had considered, while voicing concerns that treatment with T3 for a nonexistent illness may prove hazardous.

    Possible Connection

    • Studies have indicated a relationship between hypertension and hypothyroidism. An examination of 477 women with thyroid problems found a correlation between blood pressure readings and thyroid hormone levels. If future research finds Wilson's Temperature Syndrome a hypothyroid disorder, the finding might imply an interaction with hypertension.

Heart Disease - Related Articles