Important to monitor low-birth-weight kids.

PositionBlood Pressure

Blood pressure in low-birth-weight children younger than three years of age not only can be measured but should be, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, have found. Blood pressure has not been screened routinely in children with very low birth weights because the measurements were viewed as not feasible or unreliable in infants and toddlers; however, evidence has shown that low-birth-weight infants might develop hypertension later in life.

"Measuring and validating blood pressure in this population really has not been addressed," notes Charles Rosenfeld, professor of pediatrics and one of the study's authors. "This is unfortunate because the earlier that hypertension is identified, the sooner appropriate medications and lifestyle changes can be introduced to stop the development of dangerous complications."

The American Heart Association, Dallas, Tex., estimates that 25% of the world's adults have high blood pressure, which contributes to 49% of ischemic heart disease and 62% of strokes.

Two groups of children aged one through three had their blood pressure taken for the study. The first group consisted of kids from the at-risk clinic at Children's Medical Center, Dallas. Some...

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