HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE IS AN EStablished risk factor for cardiovascular disease.Furthermore, high blood pressure contributes substantially to cardiovascular disease incidence and premature mortality.Cardiovascular disease events occur most frequently during or after the fifth decade of life but pathophysiological and epidemiological evidence suggests that essential hypertension and the precursors of cardiovascular disease originate in childhood. Of particular note, some studies show that increased blood pressure levels during childhood strongly predict hypertension in young adulthood.
Health risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome include being overweight and having high blood pressure and abnormal levels of fats in the blood. Metabolic syndrome is a problem because it puts a person at increased risk for heart disease, stroke and vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.The association between BMI and the risk of death from all the major diseases. Among subjects with a low BMI, the increased risk is driven by respiratory and other causes, whereas among those with a high BMI, it is associated with cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Similar patterns observed in smokers.
Many children eat too many calories from high fat foods, sweets, and large portion sizes. This can cause a child to become moderately to severely overweight. Another reason is lack of exercise. Children today get less exercise than ever before in history.Ask your health care provider about where your child is on the standard growth chart. These charts can be used along with medical history, family history, and physical appearance to see if your child is at a healthy weight. The body mass index (BMI) for children is used for ages 2 through 20 and is an important tool to check if your child is at risk for being an overweight adult.
An apparent increase in the prevalence of hypertension among US adults. Among those 18 years or older, the agestandardized
prevalence of hypertension increased from 25.0% in 1988 to 28.7% in 2000.10 This analysis also indicated that a concurrent increase in body mass index (BMI) was responsible for most but not all of the increase in prevalence of hypertension.Blood pressure has increased over the past decade among children and adolescents. This increase is partially attributable to an increased prevalence of overweight.
A child with a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex is considered overweight. BMI uses height and weight measurements to estimate how much body fat a person has. To calculate your child's BMI, divide his or her weight by his or her height squared, or wt/ht2. (Important: To use this formula for BMI, the child's weight and height measurements must be in kilograms and meters, respectively. If you use pounds and inches, multiply the result by the conversion factor 703.)
The term morbid obesity refers to patients who are 50 - 100% -- or 100 pounds above -- their ideal body weight. Alternatively, a BMI (body mass index) value greater than 39 may be used to diagnose morbid obesity.Medical problems commonly resulting from untreated morbid obesity include the following:
* Diabetes
* Hypertension
* Heart disease
* Stroke
* Certain cancers , including breast and colon
* Depression
* Osteoarthritis
Chronic diseases are now the major cause of death and disability worldwide.Noncommunicable conditions,including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes, obesity, cancer and respiratory diseases, now account for 59% of the 56.5 million deaths annually and 45.9% of the global burden of disease.A relatively few risk factors – high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and alcohol – cause the majority of the chronic disease burden.A change in dietary habits, physical activity and tobacco control, have a major impact in reducing the rates of these chronic diseases, often in a relatively short time.
Obesity, especially central obesity (male-type or waist-predominant obesity), is an important risk factor for the "metabolic syndrome" ("syndrome X"), the clustering of a number of diseases and risk factors that heavily predispose for cardiovascular disease. These are diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels (combined hyperlipidemia). An inflammatory state is present, which — together with the above — has been implicated in the high prevalence of atherosclerosis (fatty lumps in the arterial wall), and a prothrombotic state may further worsen cardiovascular risk.
Heart health and erectile function share several important connections. Understanding these connections may help you recognize the symptoms of cardiovascular disease sooner — and improve your chances of maintaining your sexual ability.If atherosclerosis has made your coronary arteries narrow and stiff, that means arteries elsewhere in your body are probably also affected. Atherosclerosis can prevent enough blood flow from reaching your heart, legs, brain and penis. When atherosclerosis affects blood flow to your penis, the blood can't sufficiently fill the penis to allow a suitable erection.
A man's risk of developing high blood pressure rises along with his weight, even when it's within normal range, according to a new study.
In a study of more than 13,000 male doctors, researchers found that the higher a man's body mass index (BMI) was at the outset, the higher his risk of developing high blood pressure over the next 15 years. This was true even among men who were normal-weight or only mildly overweight.
Dr. Rebecca P. Gelber and colleagues at Harvard Medical School report the findings in the American Journal of Hypertension.
Numerous studies have linked excess pounds to high blood pressure, including ones showing that overweight and obese adults can lower their risk by losing weight. But the current findings suggest that, across the spectrum of "normal" and overweight, pounds affect blood pressure.
The results are based on data from the Physicians' Health Study, a project begun in 1982 that has followed more than 22,000 U.S. male doctors. Gelber and her colleagues focused on 13,563 men who were free of high blood pressure at the study's start.
Each year, the study participants had various health and lifestyle factors measured, including their BMI, a measurement of weight in relation to height. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal, while 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and 30 or higher obese.
Gelber's team found that compared with men whose initial BMI was less than 22.4, those who fell between 22.4 and 23.6 were 20 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure over the next 15 to 20 years. The risk continued to climb along with the men's BMI, with overweight and obese men being 85 percent more likely than the thinnest study participants to develop high blood pressure.
The link between weight and blood pressure persisted when the researchers considered other factors, like age, smoking, diabetes and exercise habits.
The findings, according to Gelber's team, highlight the importance of not only shedding excess weight, but of limiting weight gain throughout adulthood as well. This could have "considerable benefits," they note, for adults' risk of high blood pressure and its complications, including heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.
Recommendations
* Begin risk factor assessment in adults at age 20.
* Update family history of coronary heart disease (CHD) regularly.
* Assess smoking status, diet, alcohol intake and physical activity at every routine evaluation.
* Record blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and pulse (to screen for atrial fibrillation) at each visit (at least every two years).
* Measure fasting serum lipoprotein profile (or total and HDL cholesterol if fasting is unavailable) and fasting blood glucose according to the person’s risk for hyperlipidemia and diabetes, respectively (at least every five years; if risk factors are present, every two years).
*Home and workplace monitoring may also help when the opposite occurs — your blood pressure seems fine at the doctor's office, but is elevated elsewhere. This kind of high blood pressure, sometimes called masked hypertension, is more common in women and those with cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, high blood cholesterol and high blood sugar.
*While an optimal diet is critical, daily moderate-intensity physical activity is well-established as an important
determinant for good health, helping lower blood pressure, reduce body fat and improve glucose metabolism. Daily physical activity can also help reduce osteoporosis and falls among older people.The scientific evidence is strong that a change in dietary habits and physical activity can powerfully influence several of these risk factors in populations.
*To better control blood pressure levels among children and adolescents, research to identify behavioral factors, such as diet composition and physical activity influencing blood pressure and intervention programs to address these factors are needed.
* Risk factors used in global risk assessment include age, sex, smoking status, systolic (and sometimes diastolic) blood pressure and whether it's treated or not, total (and sometimes LDL or “bad”) cholesterol, HDL “good” cholesterol, and in some risk scores, diabetes.
*People with diabetes or a 10-year risk over 20 percent can be considered “CHD risk equivalent.” That is, they’re at a level of risk similar to a patient with established CVD.
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