Definition of "aldosterone" []

• A steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex that regulates the salt and water balance in the body. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Pfizer's pill failed because it unexpectedly increased levels of a hormone called aldosterone, linked to fatty plaque buildup and high blood pressure."
• "Dr. Michael Alderman, a blood pressure researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and editor of the American Journal of Hypertension, said in an email, The problem with reducing sodium enough to change blood pressure is that it has other effects -- including increasing insulin resistance, increasing sympathetic nerve activity, and activating the renin-angiotensin system and increasing aldosterone secretion."
• "If one lowers sodium intake to lower blood pressure, this change in sodium activates several systems including the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system that conserve sodium, and those systems are implicated in disease processes such as damaging the arterial wall and kidneys, Staessen says,This study may apply to Americans of white European descent, but it might less applicable to blacks because they are believed to be more salt sensitive, he says."