University of Tasmania
Browse

Development of hypertension in overweight adolescents: a review

Download (224.95 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 14:55 authored by Rebecca KellyRebecca Kelly, Costan Magnussen, Sabin, MA, Cheung, M, Juonala, M
The upward trend in adolescent hypertension is widely attributed to the adolescent obesity epidemic. Secular trends in adolescent prehypertension and hypertension have risen in congruence with increasing trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. The correlation between body mass index and blood pressure in adolescence is moderate to strong in most studies and strongest in those classified as overweight or obese. The mechanisms relating to the development of hypertension in overweight adolescents are unclear; however, a number of nonmodifiable and modifiable factors have been implicated. Importantly, certain clinical and biochemical markers in overweight adolescents are indicative of high risk for hypertension, including family history of hypertension and hyperinsulinemia. These characteristics may prove useful in stratifying overweight adolescents as high or low risk of comorbid hypertension. The treatment of overweight and obesity related hypertension in this population focuses on two key modalities: lifestyle change and pharmacotherapy. These approaches focus almost exclusively on weight reduction; however, a number of emerging strategies target hypertension more specifically. Among adolescents with overt hypertension there are also several factors that indicate higher risk of concurrent subclinical disease, persistent adult hypertension, and adult cardiovascular disease. This group may benefit substantially from more aggressive pharmacological treatments. Limitations in the literature relate to the paucity of studies reporting specific effects for the adolescent age group of overweight and obese individuals. Nonetheless, intervention for adiposity-related hypertension in adolescence may partially mitigate some of the cardiovascular risk in adulthood.

History

Publication title

Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics

Volume

6

Pagination

171-187

ISSN

1179-318X

Department/School

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

Publisher

Dove Medical Press Ltd.

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

© 2015 Kelly et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Clinical health not elsewhere classified

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC