Brain 'cause of high blood pressure'

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High blood pressure, known as hypertension, affects one in three people in the UK alone.

The condition, which can lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney damage, has reached pandemic proportions with more than 600 million sufferers worldwide.

It was traditionally believed the cause of hypertension lay with the heart, but a team of scientists from the University of Bristol have put forward a new and controversial view.

The team has suggested the brain plays an important factor in causing hypertension.

Scientists were able to isolate a protein (JAM-1) located in the brain.

They discovered the protein trapped white blood cells.

Once trapped the blood cells could cause inflammation, obstructing blood flow leading to poor oxygen supply to the brain.

The team believe their findings show that hypertension is an inflammatory vascular disease of the brain, rather than of the heart as previously thought.

Professor Julian Paton, who worked on the project, said the controversial findings could lead to new ways of treating the condition.