High blood pressure is a condition where the blood
pressure is more than normal. It is also known as
hypertension. Heart pumps out blood, so that oxygen can
reach to different parts of the body via blood. The
pressure with which heart pumps blood is known as blood
pressure. The blood pressure comprises of two measures,
the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. Systolic
pressure is the larger figure and represents the
pressure within the artery of the heart, when
contractions take place which pump blood to different
parts of the body. Diastolic pressure is the pressure
within the artery of the heart, when the blood is
filling in the heart and it is at rest. Both the
pressures are measured in millimeters of mercury or
mmHg. High blood pressure is abnormal increase in
systolic pressure or diastole pressure.
Blood pressure is measured by putting a blood pressure
cuff on the arm and placing a stethoscope on the chest.
There can be very little variation in blood pressure
depending upon the time, emotional moods, age, gender,
weight, height, physical activity, stress and other
illness such as heart disease and kidney disease.
Children and adolescents become anxious when they visit
the doctor. This is also an important factor which
affects the blood pressure and the readings taken get
tampered because of it. That is the reason why many
blood pressure readings are taken in order to determine
whether the adolescent has high blood pressure or not.
The nurse may even ask the adolescent to calm down while
taken the readings. Time gap is given between each
reading, so as to give time to the adolescent to calm
down. Emotions can also affect the blood pressure
reading.
An infant will have a normal blood pressure reading of
80/45, where as an adolescent will have a normal blood
pressure reading of 110/70. Therefore, age, gender, and
height are important factor when determining the normal
blood pressure level. Adults will have a higher blood
pressure than the infants and teenagers. Also, boys have
a higher blood pressure when compared to girls and tall
people have a higher blood pressure than short people.
An adolescent is said to have high blood pressure when
the blood pressure is more than the blood pressure of
ninety percent people of his/her age, gender and height.
There are many risks associated with hypertension or
high blood pressure. The risk of developing coronary
heart disease increases proportionally. The arteries
will develop greater resistance towards the blood flow,
because of which the heart will pump blood harder.
Stroke is also another risk. Adolescents who have had
high blood pressure as a child, develop harmful effects
on the blood vessels and heart till the time they turn
twenty.
The causes of high blood pressure can be classified as
primary and secondary. If the causes are definite, they
are primary and if the cause is linked to some illness,
it is secondary. Primary causes are high blood
cholesterol levels, smoking, stagnant lifestyle and
overweight. Secondary causes are obesity, immobility due
to chronic illness, prescription drugs, intense pain due
to burns or cancer and illegal drugs. High blood
pressure can develop due to hereditary reasons.
Hypertension is diagnosed by blood test and urinalysis.
The kidney function will also be checked, along with
blood cholesterol levels. Family history check is
another important factor. Adolescents’ eating habits,
exercise levels, activities in school and home will also
be studied thoroughly. High blood pressure is dealt with
by weight reduction, healthy diet, and increase in
physical activity. If hypertension is due to illness,
the illness is treated first. These treatment measures
will decrease the systolic blood pressure and diastolic
blood pressure. It will also strengthen the heart and
decrease the level of cholesterol in blood. This also
helps to keep heart diseases at bay. The good thing is
that only one percent of the adolescents, who have high
blood pressure, need medication to bring back the blood
pressure to normal.
