If you are under the impression that high blood pressure or
hypertension is a condition limited to adults, think again. Newborns,
infants and teenagers could also suffer from hypertension. It is
estimated that nearly 5% of kids may have high blood pressure and the
chances of a newborn having high blood pressure is unfortunately on the
rise.
Newborn babies usually have high blood pressure when they
are born pre-term or they have congenital problems with the heart or the
kidneys. It has been noticed however that when kids have high blood
pressure usually there is a family history of such conditions and/or
coupled with a poor lifestyle including bad diets, obesity and
inadequate physical activity.
High blood pressure in infants are
however, caused by premature birth or they have problems with other
organs like the kidneys, lungs, heart or even their vascular system.
Premature babies are often born with a condition called
broncho-pulmonary dysplasia, which is essentially immaturity of the
lungs.
These babies many also have problems like coarctation of
the aorta, which means that the major blood vessel which carries blood
to the heart is narrowed. High blood pressure in infants could also be
due to a blood clot in a kidney blood vessel.
Other causes include
side effect of some medications, exposure to hallucinogenic drugs like
cocaine while in the womb, some types of tumors, genetic problems or
issues related to the thyroid gland functioning. Newborn babies are
supposed to have blood pressure as 64/41 and it rises as the baby grows.
So an average baby between one-month to 2 years would have the blood
pressure reading as 95/58. Slight variations from these figures should
not be a matter of concern but more than this medical help should be
sought immediately.
Though high blood pressure symptoms are mostly
absent from infants but there could be symptoms of the condition that
is responsible for the high blood pressure or HBP. These include bluish
or pale skin, zero weight gain or growth, frequent urinary tract
infections, rapid breathing etc.
Other common symptoms when the
infant has very high blood pressure could be easy irritability,
vomiting, troublesome breathing and even seizures. To be sure that the
infant has indeed HBP, the only way is to measure the blood pressure,
which for infants is done using an automatic device.
For instance,
if the HBP is due to coarctation of the aorta, the pulses in the legs
could be reduced. Other tests to diagnose high blood pressure in infants
include angiography, lab tests of blood and urine, X rays of chest and
abdomen, ECG and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Treatment for
high blood pressure in infants largely depends on the cause behind the
condition and may include: drug therapy, dialysis or surgical
intervention like transplantation or coarctation repairing. The recovery
rate for the infant would again depend on the cause.
For
instance, whether the baby is born with other health problems or there
has been any damage done resulting from high blood pressure etc.
Possible complications could include failure of the heart or kidneys,
seizures or any other organ damage.
As a parent you ought to be
alert when to seek medical help and these would be when you notice your
baby is not gaining weight or has bluish skin, suffers from urinary
tract infections often and seems irritable all the time.
Unfortunately
there is no way that high blood pressure in infants can be prevented.
However there are some steps one can take to reduce the risk of such
conditions. For instance, take the advice of a doctor before becoming
pregnant, if you have a family history of congenital heart disease,
hypertension or kidney disease. Also if you are on medication, taking
them during pregnancy may also harm the baby and cause such situations
to develop. Thus it is best to consult the doctor before you decide to
become a mother.
Incidentally, a study done in the Netherlands
involving 450 babies was done, and reported in the August 1, 2007 issue
of Insider medicine confirms that babies born to smokers have a high
chance of developing high blood pressure. The study also confirmed that
babies born to smokers were considerably smaller and shorter compared to
those born to non-smokers.
