High blood pressure in children can increase the risk of stroke up to 4 times, research

Toronto: Having hypertension in childhood and adolescence can potentially quadruple the risk of long-term serious cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack, according to a new study.

One in every 15 children and adolescents worldwide is affected by hypertension and it has become a major threat.

To understand the long-term effects of the condition, researchers compared 25,605 children and adolescents (those diagnosed with hypertension between 1996 and 2021) with children and adolescents who did not have the problem.

After a 13-year follow-up, people with hypertension had two to four times the risk of having a heart attack, heart failure, stroke or heart surgery.

“More resources for screening and controlling blood pressure in children may reduce the long-term risks of cardiovascular disease in children with hypertension,” said Cal H. Robinson, MD, a pediatric nephrology fellow at Canada’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Based on the findings, experts have called for increased blood pressure screening and treatment in childhood to reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

The research findings will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 meeting in Toronto from May 3 to 6.