Hypertension in licorice abuse. A case report.
We describe the case of a young woman affected by systemic high blood pressure, in whom the clinical history and laboratory data (hypokalaemia, low plasma renin activity and negligible aldosterone levels) were consistent with the hypothesis of liquorice-induced hypertension. After six months of abstinence from liquorice, all laboratory data returned to normal levels, but blood pressure remained elevated. This unusual persistence of liquorice-induced hypertension supports the hypothesis that liquorice facilitated the phenotypic development of a hypertensive state in a patient with a family history positive for that disease.
D005260:Female; D006035:Glycyrrhiza; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010946:Plants, Medicinal