Essential hypertension, which accounts for 90%–95% of all cases of hypertension seen in the clinic, is also referred to as idiopathic hypertension, because we simply don’t understand the cause(s). Although many theories have been advanced, in the current issue of the JCI, Gonzalez-Villalobos et al. present further evidence implicating the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system and take us one step further by proposing a mechanism underlying this pathology.
