Pediatricians Receive New Guidelines to Better Identify Children with High Blood Pressure

Nurse measuring the blood pressure of a child

Many children are suffering from high blood pressure

(Mirror Daily, United States) – On August 21^st, the American Academy of Pediatrics approved new guidelines regarding the detection of children suffering from high blood pressure. These guidelines are meant to make it easier for the pediatricians to identify this condition in children.

High blood pressure is a serious condition, as it represents one of the most prominent diseases in the United States. This condition doesn’t always have visible symptoms, but it might lead to serious consequences, such as the development of cardiovascular diseases or organ damage.

Which children are more likely to have high blood pressure?

A report from 2013 stated 360,000 deaths which had high blood pressure as one of the main contributing causes. Therefore, it’s important to detect the condition in time. Children could be suffering from it as well, so the new guidelines are important for an early detection and treatment.

Overweight children are more likely to have high blood pressure than those with a normal weight. For instance, there are about 3.5 percent of children and adolescents who suffer from hypertension, and most of these children are overweight.

New guidelines to detect hypertension more easily

The previous guidelines included some tables containing the ideal levels of blood pressure that children should have. However, this data included some measurements made on overweight kids. The new guidelines are based on data collected from children with a normal weight. Therefore, hypertension should get easier to detect.

Also, these guidelines suggest that pediatricians should regularly measure the blood pressure of the child during the annual visits instead of doing it when the child comes in sick. This assures the accuracy of the measurement and avoids misdiagnosing.

In case a child is found to have high blood pressure, the first recommended solution would be for the parents to impose certain lifestyle changes. If the blood pressure still doesn’t go down, then pediatricians might administer some medications. This is also recommended in case the child is suffering from other health conditions as well.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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Melissa Gansler

Melissa calls herself Poet, essayist, and naturalist. Graduated from the University of Michigan, Melissa holds a degree in Literature. Besides English, she can also speak Chinese, German, French.