Aldosterone Excess Increases Blood Pressure, Anxiety,and Depression
Chronic aldosterone access is widespread in American adults. Increased aldosterone increases the likelihood of developing the components of the metabolic syndrome, anxiety, and depression while decreasing quality of life. Fast food, processed food, excess carbs, and sugar lead to abdominal obesity and increased aldosterone activity consistently. It switches on genes that continue to increase risk even if lifestyle changes lead to weight loss. Cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental disorders are related at the level of molecular biology. You can see how it is all tied together in the diagram above.
In the upper right corner, aldosterone activates the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). That increases oxidants production and activates the rest of the signaling cascade. Eplerenone blocks MR very precisely to eliminate the vicious cycle of continuing aldosterone excess. By understanding this biology, we can treat cardiovascular conditions much more effectively. Combining the green box interventions produces much better outcomes.