Focal Hypertension

Focal Hypertension in MS

• Sheldon Gottlieb published an article in Medical Hypotheses in 1990, in which he asserted that focal hypertension may cause MS. Here, focal hypertension refers to a localized increase in blood pressure in certain susceptible blood vessels in the brain. A cascade of biochemical and physiological events ensues:
  
  a) Damage to the affected blood vessels
  b) Oxygen deprivation of the associated area of the brain
  c) Loss of the myelin sheath of the area's nerve cells
  d) Changes in the immune system response to the events above
  e) Symptoms of MS
  
  Gottlieb asserts that the benefits of treatment with low-pressure oxygen support this hypothesis.
  
  

Another Hypothesis About MS

• A prior hypothesis proposed that some infectious agent, a bacterium or virus, caused MS. No such infectious agent has been found. This model looks at the immune system changes of MS as a cause of the symptoms. The focal hypertension model, in contrast, views the immune system changes as a response to other changes rather than a cause.
  
  

Focal Hypertension in Craniosyntosis

• During childhood, the skull normally grows where the cranial bones meet to allow brain growth; the bones fuse in adolescence. In craniosyntosis, one bone begins fusing in childhood. It can cause an abnormal shape of the head as well as damage to the brain. JK Williams wrote an article for "Cleft Palate -- Craniofacial Journal" in 1999 in which he notes the role of focal hypertension in craniosyntosis. Along with general increases in intra-cranial pressure (ICP), local increases in ICP--or focal hypertension of the cerbrospinal fluid--also occur. Resulting oxygen deprivation can cause deficits in mental development, learning disabilities, and intelligence test scores.
  
  

General vs Focal Hypertension Goals

• Hypertension has no symptoms but can result in devastating conditions such as stroke and heart failure. Some people treat their hypertension well, while others do not. Stephanie Taylor examined why and published data in The Journal of Health Psychology in 2006. She found that one's system of "superordinate" goals, the "global" attitude in life that affects one's "focal" attitudes and choices, affects also one's "focal hypertension goals," one's determination to keep one's blood pressure under control.
  
  

Further Considerations

• Based on the available literature, "focal hypertension" does not designate a treatable clinical condition in itself. Rather, it signifies a particular manifestation of a localized increase in blood pressure or ICP. One can postulate that focal hypertension occurs in other diseases where the disease process puts pressure on the blood vessels or internal fluid in the affected area.