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Blood-pressures in offspring of hypertensive parents
Insights
Children with a hypertensive parent do not need frequent blood pressure monitoring. However, young adults over 18 with a hypertensive parent may benefit from regular blood pressure checks.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pediatrics
- Genetics
Background:
- Essential hypertension often has a familial component.
- Individuals with a family history of hypertension may be at increased risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare blood pressure and related parameters in children and young adults with a parental history of essential hypertension against control groups.
- To determine if age influences the impact of familial hypertension on cardiovascular health indicators.
Main Methods:
- Blood pressure, pulse, obesity index, weight, and HDL/total cholesterol were measured in 59 children (6-17 years) and 49 adults (18-37 years) with at least one hypertensive parent.
- Data were compared with control populations.
Main Results:
- Children (6-17 years) with a hypertensive parent showed no significant differences in blood pressure, pulse, obesity index, weight, or HDL/total cholesterol compared to controls.
- In adults (18-37 years), 22% exceeded the 95th percentile for diastolic blood pressure.
- Adult men exhibited significantly higher diastolic blood pressure (phase 4) than controls, with no difference in systolic blood pressure.
Conclusions:
- Routine blood pressure monitoring is not indicated for children under 18 with a hypertensive parent.
- Young adults (over 18) with a hypertensive parent may require more frequent blood pressure monitoring due to elevated diastolic pressures observed in the study.
Abstract:
The blood-pressures in a material of 59 children aged 6-17 years and 49 adults aged 18-37 years, all of whom had one parent with essential hypertension were compared with control materials. Despite the facts that all of these had one parent with essential hypertension and 2/3 had, in addition, at least one grandparent with essential hypertension, the blood-pressures in the age-group 6-17 years did not differ from the control population. This held true also for the pulse, obesity index, weight and HDL/total cholesterol. In the age-group 18-37 years, 22% had diastolic blood-pressures of over the 95% control percentile. In the group of men as a whole, the diastolic blood-pressure (phase 4) was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) than in the control population while no difference in the systolic blood-pressure was found. It is concluded that it does not appear to be necessary to control the blood-pressure in children under the age of 18 years with one hypertensive parent more frequently than in other children, while there may be good reasons for controlling the blood-pressure in young adults over 18 years if one of the parents has hypertension.