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17 Years Old Having High Blood Pressure. What Could Be The Reason?
Question: Hi...my 16 (17 next week) year old son has had 2 blood pressure checks in the 142-150/81 range during the last year. We bought a home monitor today and the outcome has been the same at different time intervals. Is there something specific that would be causing this in a teenager and are there dangers of having high-blood pressure in a teen and, if so what should he do about it? The Nurse Practitioner refused to do his physical because of his elevated blood pressure.
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Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.
Increased blood pressure in teens / young adults is very often to to secondary causes, i.e the hypertension is a manifestation of some other medical problem, like endocrine (hormonal) problems, kidney problems, etc. There are several endocrine (hormonal) problems which can often result in elevated blood pressure - like hyperaldosteronism, hyperparathyroidism, etc.
Though 142 to150 systolic BP is only a mild elevation, it is still important to have this properly investigated. Persistently elevated or uncontrolled blood pressure can have long-term adverse effects on multiple systems of the body, and hence needs to be taken seriously.
So, I would advise you to have a thorough evaluation done for your son. This would include a complete physical examination, blood tests (including kidney function tests, cholesterol tests, hormonal tests, etc.) and a cardiac evaluation as well.
You should also advise him to follow some dietary modifications such as a low-salt diet, avoiding red meat and fatty foods and increasing the abount of fruits, vegetables and other fibre-rich foods.
Best wishes,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Increased blood pressure in teens / young adults is very often to to secondary causes, i.e the hypertension is a manifestation of some other medical problem, like endocrine (hormonal) problems, kidney problems, etc. There are several endocrine (hormonal) problems which can often result in elevated blood pressure - like hyperaldosteronism, hyperparathyroidism, etc.
Though 142 to150 systolic BP is only a mild elevation, it is still important to have this properly investigated. Persistently elevated or uncontrolled blood pressure can have long-term adverse effects on multiple systems of the body, and hence needs to be taken seriously.
So, I would advise you to have a thorough evaluation done for your son. This would include a complete physical examination, blood tests (including kidney function tests, cholesterol tests, hormonal tests, etc.) and a cardiac evaluation as well.
You should also advise him to follow some dietary modifications such as a low-salt diet, avoiding red meat and fatty foods and increasing the abount of fruits, vegetables and other fibre-rich foods.
Best wishes,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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