HYPERTENSION DIGEST

Young people with hypertension become adults with hypertension

Confirming that hypertension does not just go away, more research has shown that adolescents who are classified as having either prehypertension (at risk for frank hypertension) or hypertension and who are not treated are more likely to have hypertension when they are adults.

The data showed about a 7% annual progression from prehypertension to hypertension. Prehypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure reading (the top or first number) between 120-139 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure reading (the second or bottom number) between 80-89 mmHg. Lifestyle changes, such as diet improvements and increased exercise, are recommended for persons with prehypertension. Hypertension is a systolic blood pressure reading over 140 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure reading over 90 mm Hg.

Dr. Bonita Falkner from the Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and colleagues used data from the National Childhood Blood Pressure Database and compared single blood pressure readings taken two years apart in 4,147 boys and 4,386 girls between the ages of 13 and 15 years. They found a linear increase (from normal blood pressure to prehypertension to hypertension) in the adolescents classified with hypertension at the second examination. The results were reported in May 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension.

In boys, weight was predictive of higher blood pressure, with a higher body mass index and continuing to gain weight associated with higher blood pressure, whereas in girls, age was more significant, with girls 15 years old having higher blood pressure compared to 13 year old girls.

“These findings are valuable, because while an adult’s current blood pressure level is the strongest indicator of that individual’s blood pressure in the future, the variability of blood pressure in the young make it less clear how well blood pressure classification at any particular point in time predicts subsequent blood pressure classification in an otherwise healthy adolescent population. Knowing which youngsters are most likely to progress to hypertension would provide the ability to target preventive interventions,” Dr. Falkner said.