High blood pressure in adolescents: Causes and Diagnosis

High blood pressure in adolescents: Causes and Diagnosis
Treatment

high blood pressure in adolescents Before diagnosing high blood pressure in adolescents, the doctor must measure the pressure several times over several weeks or months.

Blood pressure is measured using a sphygmomanometer (or tonometer) - a measure of the pressure that blood exerts on the walls of the arteries. It is recorded as two numbers, the first number in the upper screen sphygmomanometer - is the systolic pressure. It is a measure of the maximum pressure in the arteries, which occurs at a time when the heart contracts and pumps blood into the arteries. The second number - is the diastolic pressure, which is the lowest possible pressure in the arteries and observed code cardiac muscle relaxes and fills with blood. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury.

Even healthy adolescents pressure is constantly changing under the influence of the following factors:

Time of day - Blood pressure varies throughout the day and is lowest during sleep.
Physical activity - usually reaches a peak pressure immediately after exercise and decreases when the body is at rest.
Emotions - both positive and negative, can affect blood pressure.
Stress. Physical and psychological stress can cause an increase in blood pressure.

In addition, the doctor's office environment may cause anxiety in teens (and often in adults), whereby the blood pressure sometimes rises. During the measurements, the teenager should be calm and relaxed.

The dangerously high blood pressure for teens? The most serious risks associated with high blood pressure, or hypertension, ischemic heart disease are Heart disease - symptoms of heart disease , Heart attack and stroke. In adolescents, these violations are rare, but studies show that people who are in their teens had high blood pressure, if left untreated, after twenty years increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The reasons for the high pressure in adolescents

High blood pressure in adolescents may be primary - when its cause is unknown, and secondary - when it is caused by certain diseases and other factors.

Scientists believe that the development of primary hypertension may contribute to:

Elevated cholesterol levels in the blood;
Overweight;
Sedentary lifestyle;
Smoking.

The causes of secondary hypertension in adolescents are:

Diseases and injuries, such as kidney disease, coarctation of the aorta (congenital heart disease), head injuries, which lead to increased intracranial pressure, resulting in impaired body's ability to regulate blood pressure;
Taking certain medications, such as steroids or oral contraceptives Oral contraceptives - something to be feared at their reception? ;
Drug use;
Obesity;
Sedentary lifestyle;
Severe pain caused by, for example, cancer or burns.

In adolescents and adults is most common primary hypertension. Many teens suffering from hypertension, have close relatives with high blood pressure; there is reason to believe that a predisposition to the development of this disorder is inherited. Since 2002 there is a steady increase in the incidence of obesity among hypertensive patients aged eight to seventeen.

As hypertension is diagnosed in adolescents

In most cases, hypertension in adolescents detected by chance during a routine medical examination. If there were a teenager once high blood pressure, your doctor will invite him to undergo another examination after some time pressure should be measured several times at regular intervals to diagnose hypertension. In the process of diagnosis and the doctor will examine the patient's medical history; In particular, it requires information on diet, physical activity adolescent about what he does except in school and possible stressors. In addition, it conducted a general physical examination, urinalysis, and blood (including to determine the level of cholesterol Cholesterin and assessment of liver function). May be required and other diagnostic procedures to detect possible heart disease and other disorders that may contribute to the development of hypertension.