Blood pressure is the pressure of blood against the blood vessel walls as the heart pumps. When someone has hypertension (high blood pressure), the heart and arteries have a much heavier workload. The heart has to pump harder and the arteries are under greater strain as they carry blood.
Having high blood pressure puts someone at a higher risk for stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, loss of vision, and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
What Causes Hypertension (High Blood Pressure): The causes of high blood pressure in kids can differ, depending on a child’s age. The younger the child, the more likely the high blood pressure is linked to an illness. Watch the following video for Hypertension causes and its treatment.
In babies, it’s usually caused by prematurity or problems with the kidneys (this is most common), lungs, or heart. These can include conditions like bronchopulmonary dysplasia (an immaturity of the lungs in premature babies) or coarctation of the aorta (a narrowing of part of the major blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart).
While hypertension is far more common in adults, experts link childhood obesity to rising rates of childhood hypertension. In some cases it’s due to a problem with the kidneys or other conditions. If no specific cause is found, doctors call it “essential hypertension.”
