Q1) My child aged 4 years was admitted in the hospital with convulsions recently. The doctor said that he had high blood pressure because of which he got a fit. Is it possible?
A1) It is possible to get convulsions due to high BP and this episode is called hypertensive encephalopathy which is due to increased intracranial pressure (increased pressure in the brain) or brain swelling due to high BP. Associated with convulsions the child may have paralysis of one side (hemiparesis), blindness and speech defect.


Q2) Is hypertension common in children? I through it occurred only in adults.
A2) Hypertension through rare in children when compared with adults occurs in 1 – 2 % of school going children who look apparently healthy.

Q3) What is normal blood pressure in children?
A3) Normal blood pressure in children varies according to age, gender and height of a child.

Q4) What are the causes of hypertension?
A4) Cause of Hypertension in 80 – 85% of children are due to kidney diseases. Less than 5% are due to endocrinal (hormonal) disorders or tumors. Heart disease forms less than 3% hypertensives and rare cases of meningitis, encephalitis, brain tumors are other known causes. Less than 1 – 2% hypertensive children are due to essential or primary (cause unknown) hypertension in preadolescent age group.

b>Q5) How do I know whether my child is suffering from high BP?
A5) Symptoms of hypertension are nonspecific in young children. Irritability, excessive crying, failure to gain weight, poor feeding, low-grade fever are the only symptoms in children younger than 2 – 3 years. Later on headache, vomiting, palpitations, giddiness, are present. In severe and acute cases (hypertensive crisis), signs and symptoms of encephalopathy (fits), cardiac failure (swelling over the body), blindness or renal failure occur which require hospitalization. BP recording is the only method by which hypertension is detected in children with vague symptoms.

Q6) What is the treatment for hypertension? When is treatment required?
A6) Treatment of hypertension is urgently required to control BP in hypertensive emergencies to prevent damage to brain, heart, kidney and retina.
    In cases with chronic hypertension which is moderate or severe, oral medicines are used depending on the cause. Chronic hypertension may require treatment for years.
    Mild to moderate hypertension with minimum symptoms may be controlled by non pharmacologic measures like weight reduction in obese children, diet control (low salt, high potassium, high calcium & magnesium and low fat diet), exercises – yoga, life style modification, reduction of stress etc.

Q7) What are the complications of high BP?
A7) Long term complications of hypertension are stroke, cardiovascular damage resulting in heart failure, renal failure and retinopathy or blindness.


Last created on 09-05-2001
Last updated on 18-11-2006