Urine Test Can Identify Cardio Risks: Experts

A simple urine test may be an effective way to identify individuals whose health may be in jeopardy because their bodies hold onto too much sodium, hiking their risks for high blood pressure, researchers report.
 

"We want to prove that you can easily and efficiently identify these patients," said lead researcher Evan A. Mulloy, a second-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. "We want this to become a part of our routine standard of care."

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For the study, researchers tracked 19 patients — 10 to 19 years old — who visited the office of a pediatric nephrologist. Urine tests showed eight retained sodium and seven of them were already hypertensive.
 

"Eight kids were holding onto sodium and the amounts ranged anywhere from a few milligrams to hundreds of milligrams over the course of a doctor's visit," Mulloy said.
 

The findings were presented at recent meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.
 

Nearly 31 percent of American adults are hypertensive and more than half do not have their high pressure under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.