High Blood Pressure Has No Minimum

How tall is your child? How much does he or she weigh? Most parents can answer those questions easily. But here’s a tougher question: what is your child’s blood pressure? High blood pressure, or hypertension, is often considered an adult health problem. But this serious condition is no longer adults-only. “The number of children with high blood pressure is rising,” says Susan Mendley, MD, head of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Left unchecked, high blood pressure can result in lifelong health complications including heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Fortunately, small changes now can turn this trend around.” What’s Normal? For adults, 120/80 or lower is normal blood pressure and 140/90 or greater is high blood pressure. But for children, high blood pressure is determined differently. “Children are not little adults,” says Dr. Mendley. “High blood pressure for children is defined as a blood pressure reading greater than the 95th percentile for their age, height and gender.” It’s estimated that about 2 million kids in the U.S. have high blood pressure, and many of those children-and their parents- don’t know it.* That’s because high blood pressure, also known as the “silent killer,” has no symptoms. However, childhood high blood pressure often has a common clue: obesity. Predicting hypertens...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs