All About High Blood Pressure In Children
A few moments could prove to be a stress buster for you with your little baby. These small bundles of happiness, however, could also suffer from hypertension. Alarming but sadly true! high blood pressure in children may be a concern for parents, but shying away from the issue is definitely not going to assist.
What is Blood Pressure?
This is pressure on the walls of the arteries every moment your heart pumps blood as water travels to all areas of your body. The pumping action of the heart generates blood pressure. Stress, anxiety, and hard work may boost blood pressure.
Normal Blood Pressure for a Child
For a kid, normal blood pressure measurement is based on three variables: age, gender, and weight. A blood pressure of 64/41 is regarded as normal in a newborn. It’s 95/58 for a kid from 1 month to 2 years of age. These figures differ normally. Your doctor will determine if your kid has hypertension. If reading is high after three checks and your doctor will recommend periodic surveillance.
What is High Blood Pressure?
Under normal condition, the heart pumps blood through the blood vessels throughout the body, widening and contracting to keep and control blood flow. It is called high blood pressure when the blood pushes too forcefully against the blood vessels that cause harm to the vessels, heart and other organs. “Hypertension” implies higher blood pressure by age, weight, and height than 95 percent.
Causes of High Blood Pressure in Children
Inherited / genetic type or main hypertension is the most prevalent reason for high blood pressure. It is prevalent in kids and adolescents who are overweight and obese. Primary hypertension causes are unknown. Other causes of high blood pressure are kidney abnormality, narrowing of arteries to the kidneys, congenital heart condition, rare tumors of the adrenal gland. These types are called secondary hypertension as it is possible to identify the underlying causes.
Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure in Children
Usually, high blood pressure does not trigger symptoms. Signs and symptoms, however, that may show an emergency with elevated blood pressure (hypertensive crisis) include:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Vomiting
- Chest pains
- Fluttering heartbeat (palpitations)
- Shortness of breath
Ask for emergency medical care if your kid has any of these symptoms.
Diagnosis
If your child is diagnosed with hypertension after three readings, your doctor may do these exams to see if the underlying disease causes an increase in blood pressure.
- A blood test to verify sugar concentrations, blood cell count and renal function
- Urine test
- Echocardiogram-a test to verify blood flow through the core of your child if there is a structural heart problem that causes the problem
- Ultrasound of kidneys
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring will be advised by the doctor if blood pressure in your child has been high for more than a year or hypertension in Stage 1 over three clinical visits. In this case, the child will wear a device throughout the day that measures its blood pressure. This will assist to test for elevated stress due to temporary variables such as being in a doctor’s presence.
Risk factors
High blood pressure risk variables for your child rely on variables related to health circumstances, genetics, and lifestyle.
Complications
Children with high blood pressure are likely to remain as adolescents with high blood pressure unless they start therapy. If the high blood pressure of your baby remains into adulthood, your kid might be a danger of:
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Kidney disease
Prevention
High blood pressure in children can be avoided by making the same lifestyle adjustments that can assist treat it— controlling the weight of your baby, offering a good diet and promoting practice for your baby.
High blood pressure caused by another disorder can sometimes be controlled or even prevented by managing the disease that causes it.
You can definitely monitor and control the blood pressure level of your baby and lead a good life by working closely with your kid and health professional and creating an extensive health plan.
Also Read: Know All About Congenital Heart Disease
