HYPERTENSION - A MARK OF METABOLIC SYNDROM IN ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Essential hypertension, an independent cardiovascular risk factor, becomes a disease of adolescent. Because of the tracking phenomen hypertension in adolescent is a risk factor for adult’s hypertension. The aim of this screening was to evaluate hypertension’s prevalence in a group of 712 adolescents aged 15-19 years and to establish the relation with other cardiovascular risk factors. Hypertension’s prevalence was 10,1% slightly higher in boys. Risk factors that had a strong influence in hypertension’s prevalence are smoking, cholesterol level, obesity and the presence of the disease in parents. Primary hypertension becomes the dominant etiology in adolescents, and the prevalence of hypertension in childhood and adolescence depends strongly on the values considered normal. Primary hypertension in adolescents is related to cardiovascular risk factors.