Monash Health’s Head of Endocrinology, Professor Peter Fuller and Consultant Endocrinologist Associate Professor Jun Yang will lead a new multicentre on Primary Aldosteronism (PA), a form of hypertension (high blood pressure).
PA or Conn Syndrome is caused by overactive adrenal glands that make too much aldosterone, a salt-retaining hormone.
One in ten patients with hypertension has PA, but it is often misdiagnosed as conventional hypertension. As a result, patients are given the wrong treatment and sometimes suffer preventable heart disease or stroke.
Correctly diagnosed, PA and the consequent hypertension can usually be treated or cured with surgery.
The new Primary Aldosteronism Centre of Excellence (PACE) will receive $2.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to generate and drive evidence into practice to increase the detection of PA and improve health outcomes for hundreds of thousands of Australians.
The program of work is very much a seamless collaboration between Monash Health (led by Endocrinology but involving many departments at Monash Health) and the Centre for Endocrinology and Metabolism in the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, as well as Monash University, University of Queensland and Diamantina Institute, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Barwon Health, Curtin University, University of Western Australia, and Menzies School of Health.
Professor Fuller, also the Head of Hudson Institute’s Centre for Endocrinology and Metabolism, says the backing of the NHMRC with this level of funding will be a global game changer for PA research.
“We aim to revolutionise the diagnosis and management of hypertensive patients, improve health outcomes by reducing the burden of hypertension and chronic disease, build enduring research and training capacity, and cement Australia’s position as a world leader in tackling this public health challenge.
“PACE will be perfectly placed to expand research activities rapidly, generate new knowledge and lead the way internationally in developing and implementing guidelines, policies and education platforms to enable change,” he said.
“It will harness and synergise national expertise by bringing together an outstanding team of internationally recognised researchers and clinicians who can drive innovation and change to tackle all of the key challenges.
A/Prof Yang, also the Endocrine Hypertension Research Group Head at Hudson Institute says:
“For people living with PA, that means the medical community will be better informed about this condition, enabling them to diagnose it sooner and offer the most advanced treatment,” she said.
This article was first published by Hudson Institute of Medical Research.