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Know the signs of High Blood Pressure
View a 27 image slide show with different subject and Information with each.
Also other slide shows on this page pertaining to High Blood Pressure and/or other medical issues.
a 3:44 video, How to check your Blood Pressure at home.
Taking your blood pressure at home at regular intervals can help you manage your health yourself. Here is how to do it and once done, find out what the numbers mean
Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure. Your doctor may advise you to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink. If cutting back on alcohol is hard for you to do on your own, ask your healthcare provider about getting help.
The American Heart Association recommends, if you drink, limit your alcohol consumption to no more than two drinks per day for men and no more than one drink per day for women. Read More
Over the next three weeks, you’ll be focusing on getting to know the salty six, common foods that may be loaded with excess sodium.
We also encourage you to look for the Heart-Check Mark to find products that can help you make smarter choices about the foods you eat.
Understanding blood pressure isn’t easy, especially when words like “systolic,” “diastolic,” and “millimeters of mercury” (mm Hg) are involved.
By learning some basic concepts, however, you can become an expert in reading and understanding your blood pressure numbers. This is essential for identifying high blood pressure, or hypertension, in its earlier stages to prevent health complications. Learn Details Here
Blockages and blood clots mean less blood can get to our vital organs, and without blood, the tissue dies. That’s why high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and even heart failure.
More than 75 percent of Americans who have a stroke have high blood pressure. Read More
Blood pressure and heart rate are two different things but are closely related. The heart rate is the number of times the heart beats in a minute. Blood pressure is the measurement of blood force against the artery’s walls.
There is no direct correlation between blood pressure and heart rate (or pulse rate). High pulse rate does not seem to indicate hypertension. For people with hypertension, heart rate will not be a substitute for measuring blood pressure. Read More
When to call 911. High readings and key symptoms are your cues to take action.
Know the two types of HBP crisis to watch for.
A hypertensive (high blood pressure) crisis is when blood pressure rises quickly and severely. There are two types of hypertensive crises, both require immediate medical attention. More Information
HBP and the Cardiovascular System
This module presents four of the most common effects of HBP on the cardiovascular system.
Click on any of the icons to learn more about the different conditions and how they are affected by High Blood Pressure. Learn More
The Heart Check Mark makes it easy to spot heart-healthy foods in the grocery store or when dining out. Simply look for the name of the American Heart Association along with our familiar red heart with a white check mark on the package or menu. But not all red hearts you see are from the American Heart Association; look for the AHA name to be sure.
When you spot the American Heart Association’s Heart Check Mark, you'll instantly know the food has been certified to meet our nutrition requirements. It's a good first step in creating an overall sensible eating plan.
Read more about the program Here
Thinking about reducing the sodium in your and your family’s diet? You’ve come to the right place! We’ll show you how too much sodium sneaks into your diet and how it hurts your health, and share tips for kissing that excess salt goodbye. And, we’ll give you the tools you need to take action and change the foods you eat, Go Here
Explore the resources on this site and be sure to come back regularly to see what’s new on Our Blog!
The Everyday DASH Diet Cookbook: Over 150 Fresh and Delicious Recipes to Speed Weight Loss, Lower Blood Pressure, and Prevent Diabetes.
A healthy diet is only as good as the food it provides in its plan. This ultimate guide to cooking the DASH way serves up everything necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle, Read More Here.
High Blood Pressure
Also called: Benign Essential Hypertension, Essential Hypertension, HBP, HTN, Hypertension.
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure.
When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is called diastolic pressure.
Blood Pressure reading uses these two numbers. Usually the systolic number comes before or above the diastolic number.
A reading of:
- 119/79 or lower is normal blood pressure.
- 140/90 or higher is high blood pressure.
- Between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is called prehypertension. Prehypertension means you may end up with high blood pressure, unless you take steps to prevent it.
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems such as
stroke,heart failure,heart attack and
kidney failure.
You can control High Blood Pressure through healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise and the
DASH Diet and taking
Medicines, if needed
Source at:MedlinePlus
Not only this brief summary about High Blood Pressure, this page also contains an abundance of information
concerning High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) and links to many resources and sources of information.
Also a brief summary below about Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension).
Low Blood Pressure
Also called: Hypotension, LBP.
You've probably heard that High Blood Pressure is a problem. Sometimes blood pressure that is too low can also cause problems.
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure. Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers. Usually they're written one above or before the other, such as 120/80. If your blood pressure reading is 90/60 or lower, you have low blood pressure.
Some people have low blood pressure all the time. They have no symptoms and their low readings are normal for them. In other people, blood pressure drops below normal because of a medical condition or certain medicines. Some people may have symptoms of low blood pressure when standing up too quickly. Low blood pressure is a problem only if it causes dizziness,fainting or in extreme cases, shock.
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Source: WebMD
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Explained
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) means that the pressure is too high inside the blood vessels in your lungs.
It’s a very serious condition that can change your day-to-day life.
When you get the right diagnosis, though, you can get the care you need to ease your symptoms.
PAH and Your Heart
Your heart pumps blood through your arteries and veins, sending oxygen to all parts of your body. In a single heartbeat, the left side of your heart sends the blood out, and blood also returns to the right side. The right side sends it through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where it swaps carbon dioxide for oxygen. The blood goes back to the left side of the heart, and the process starts again with the next heartbeat.
It’s a short distance from your heart to your lungs. So normally, the right side doesn’t have to pump very hard. But with PAH, blood doesn’t move freely through the arteries in your lungs. Your heart works much harder to force it through. Over time, the heart muscle gets weak. It can become enlarged and stop working properly. When your blood doesn’t flow well, your body doesn’t get enough oxygen.
Symptoms
Many people have PAH for a long time before they realize something is wrong. The symptoms are subtle at first. You may just feel tired or out of shape. And your doctor may mistake your condition for something more common.
The early symptoms are:
Shortness of breath during normal physical activity
Fatigue
Chest pains
A racing heartbeat
As the disease gets worse, you may also have:
Light-headedness
Fainting
Swelling in your legs, hands, or belly
Dry cough, sometimes with blood
Blue lips or fingers
Numbness or pain in your fingers and toes when they get cold, called Raynaud’s phenomenon.
Who’s at Risk?
Many people who get PAH are women between the ages of 30 and 60. But it can happen to people of all ages, races, and genders.
Some things make you more likely to get the disease:
A family history of the condition
Other diseases of the heart and lungs
Obesity
If you’ve used some street drugs, like cocaine, or diet medicines
Living at high altitudes
What Causes It?
Most people get PAH when another illness has damaged their heart or lungs. The most common problems that cause an increase in your pulmonary blood pressure are:
Heart problems: Conditions like mitral valve disease or long-term high blood pressure damage the left side of the heart to the point that it doesn’t work well. That makes blood back up in the blood vessels of the lungs.
Lung diseases: When there’s a problem in your lungs, your body tries to protect its oxygen supply. It keeps the blood away from damaged areas and forces it into healthy areas. It can happen if you have sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diseases that scar the lungs, like emphysema.
Blood clots
Other diseases, including some blood disorders, thyroid disease and other metabolic disorders, and immune system disorders that affect many different parts of the body, like sarcoidosis and vasculitis.
In rare cases, the problem is with the arteries themselves. They become narrow and stiff, leaving little room for blood to pass through. Causes of this type of PAH include:
A defect in a gene
An illness that affects many parts of your body, like lupus, sickle cell disease, or scleroderma
A heart defect that you were born with that changes the normal way blood flows through it
Some drugs and toxins, especially diet drugs like fenfluramine (the fen part of fen-phen) and street drugs like cocaine or methamphetamines that tighten blood vessels
Infection with HIV or a parasite called schistosoma
Sometimes, doctors can’t tell what causes PAH.
What You Can Do
Talk to your doctor if you’re having trouble with symptoms that seem like PAH. She can do some tests to find out what’s going on. It’s important to get the right diagnosis so you can get the right treatment. The sooner you treat PAH, the easier it is to control.
More Help for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)
The healthy DASH diet plan was developed to lower blood pressure without medication in research sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health. The first DASH diet research showed that it could lower blood pressure as well as the first line blood pressure medications, even with a sodium intake of 3300 mg/day! Since then, numerous studies have shown that the DASH diet reduces the risk of many diseases, including some kinds of cancer, stroke, heart disease, heart failure, kidney stones, and diabetes. It has been proven to be an effective way to lose weight and become healthier at the same time. It is full of fabulous, delicious, real foods. All of these benefits led to the #1 diet ranking by US News & World Report in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
The Improved DASH Diet
The original DASH diet research was not originally designed for weight loss, and was relatively high in refined grains and starchy foods, since it was based on the prevailing nutrition "wisdom" of the mid-90s. (Note: The NIH educational materials have not been updated since 2006.) Since healthy weight loss is important to so many people, there was a need to create an easy-to-follow weight loss plan, based on the core DASH diet foods. The heart of the DASH diet is an eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables, low-fat and nonfat dairy, along with nuts, beans, and seeds.
Fortunately, several new DASH diet research studies have been conducted to optimize the DASH diet, and have shown even better results. Improved blood pressure results were obtained by cutting back on the "empty carbs" and adding in more protein and/or heart healthy fats. These improvements are completely compatible with the newest research on how to have successful, sustainable weight loss.
DASH diet expert, Marla Heller, MS, RD, has written the only books with plans based on the newest DASH diet research. All are based on the science that promotes easily reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. Meals and snacks are balanced with bulky, filling foods (fruits and vegetables), along with foods that are protein-rich and/or contain heart healthy fats to quench hunger. The meal plans in these books are designed to avoid the blood sugar roller coaster that results in cravings. By keeping blood sugar on an even keel, you reduce belly fat, reduce your risk of diabetes (or find it easier to manage), reduce triglycerides, improve HDL (good cholesterol), and reduce LDL (bad cholesterol).
The new plans are not skimpy on protein, so that you maintain more muscle while losing weight, to avoid slowing your metabolism. What is the point of losing weight, if it isn't sustainable?
The DASH Diet Younger You has a stronger plant-based foundation, to support both vegetarians and non-vegetarians in following the DASH diet with an all natural, real food-based plan. Plant foods are powerful sources of antioxidants and heart healthy fats that can reduce the oxidation and inflammation that ages and causes many diseases. And by removing processed starches and sugars, you keep blood sugar under control to banish belly fat, prevent damaging glycation of proteins in your body, and prevent or manage diabetes. Learn how this plan supports a healthy gut microbiota that actually makes it easier to lose weight. (Sample menus)
The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution is designed to pump up weight loss, especially targeting belly fat, managing metabolic syndrome, and reducing the risk of developing diabetes. It can be used with The DASH Diet Younger You, to expand vegetarian and all-natural options while losing weight. (Sample menus).
The Everyday DASH Diet Cookbook is the key to incorporating the DASH diet principles of high intake of fruits and vegetables, low-fat and nonfat dairy, beans and nuts, along with mostly whole grains, lean protein-rich foods, and the heart healthy fats into delicious meals.
The DASH Diet Action Plan provides the complete lifestyle program to improve heart health by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, while also support reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. (Sample menus)
Research based
The DASH diet is based on the research studies: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and has been proven to lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and improve insulin sensitivity. Blood pressure control with the DASH diet involves more than just the traditional low salt or low sodium diet advice. It is based on an eating plan proven to lower blood pressure, a plan rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or nonfat dairy. It emphasizes whole grains and contains less refined grains compared with a typical diet. It is rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, and fiber. Your doctor may have recommended this eating plan; it is also recommended by:
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (one of the National Institutes of Health, of the US Department of Health and Human Services)
The American Heart Association
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans
US guidelines for treatment of high blood pressure
The DASH Diet Plan
The DASH diet eating plan is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, low fat or nonfat dairy. It also includes mostly whole grains; lean meats, fish and poultry; nuts and beans. It is high fiber and low to moderate in fat. It is a plan that follows US guidelines for sodium content, along with vitamins and minerals. In addition to lowering blood pressure, the DASH eating plan lowers cholesterol and makes it easy to lose weight. It is a healthy way of eating, designed to be flexible enough to meet the lifestyle and food preferences of most people. It can be considered to be an Americanized version of the Mediterranean diet, and to be easier to follow, since it has more specific guidelines. The plan below is for the original DASH diet, which was designed to lower blood pressure, and was not specifically a weight loss plan. The pumped up versions for weight loss is lower in calories and discourages refined and processed foods, which are mostly empty calories. You can see sample menus for the original plan, the weight loss plan, and vegetarian plan.
Specifically the DASH diet plan includes:
Type of food
Number of servings for 1600 - 3100 Calorie diets
Servings on a 2000 Calorie diet
Grains and grain products (include at least 3 whole grain foods each day)
6 - 12
7 - 8
Fruits
4 - 6
4 - 5
Vegetables
4 - 6
4 - 5
Low fat or non fat dairy foods
2 - 4
2 - 3
Lean meats, fish, poultry
1.5 - 2.5
2 or less
Nuts, seeds, and legumes
3 - 6 per week
4 - 5 per week
Fats and sweets
2 - 4
Limited
Who Should Follow the DASH Diet?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend the DASH eating plan as a model for healthy eating for everyone! The whole family can enjoy the DASH diet. And of course, the DASH diet was developed to help people lower their blood pressure. It provides additional heart health benefits, lowering cholesterol and inflammation. New research shows that it is effective in lowering blood pressure in children as well as adults.
How Does the DASH Diet Plan Work?
The DASH diet helps to lower blood pressure by providing more key nutrients, such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium, all of which are associated with lower blood pressure. These key nutrients are boosted by including more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or nonfat dairy in your daily diet. Some people see additional benefits by lowering sodium or salt in their diet. Our book includes additional lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure, such as weight loss, exercise, smoking cessation, and moderation of alcohol intake.
The DASH Diet Younger You Lose weight, become healthier, and turn back the clock, with a plant-focused plan that targets the root causes of aging, including oxidation, inflammation, and glycation of body proteins. Based a plant-focused foundation, all real foods, with flexible meal plans for vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution People who want pumped up weight loss will love The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution, which is lower in starchy foods, especially refined and processed foods. It is good for heart health, and especially targets people who carry their excess weight around their middle, people with metabolic syndrome, high triglycerides, diabetes, prediabetes, and/or hypertension, who are postmenopausal, or who have PCOS.
The DASH Diet Action Plan The DASH Diet Action Plan is the user-friendly guide to the DASH diet. Without help, many people can find it challenging to adopt the DASH diet. This book was written to make it easy-to-follow. It targets high blood pressure and cholesterol, along with weight loss if needed.
The Everyday DASH Diet Cookbook Our new cookbook, The Everyday DASH Diet Cookbook, is the essential companion for all the books, to help make DASH your lifestyle. It is the only cookbook to support The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution book. It avoids refined, processed ingredients.
Steps You Can Take
You can take steps to prevent high blood pressure by adopting these healthy lifestyle habits:
Follow a healthy eating plan.
Be physically active.
Maintain a healthy weight.
If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.
Quit smoking.
Learn to cope with and manage stress.
Follow a Healthy Eating Plan
Follow a healthy eating plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, and whole grains, and that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat. Eating this way is even more effective when you also reduce your sodium (salt) intake and calories.
One such eating plan is called DASH. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This is the name of a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health that showed that this kind of eating plan can help you prevent and control high blood pressure. The study also showed that combining this kind of eating plan with cutting back on salt in your diet is even more effective at lowering your blood pressure.
To learn more about DASH, see Lowering Your Blood Pressure with DASH.
Lower Your Salt Intake
In general, the lower your salt intake, the lower your blood pressure. Older adults should limit their sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) daily.
The key to reducing the amount of salt we eat is making wise food choices. Only a small amount of the salt that we eat comes from the salt shaker, and only small amounts occur naturally in food. Most of the salt that we eat comes from processed foods -- for example, canned or processed meat, baked goods, certain cereals, soy sauce, and foods that contain seasoned salts, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and baking soda. Food from fast food restaurants, frozen foods, and canned foods also tend to be higher in sodium. See tips to reduce salt in your diet
Read Food Labels
Be sure to read food labels to choose products lower in salt. Look for foods and seasonings that are labeled as low-salt or "no added salt." Look for the sodium content in milligrams and the Percent Daily Value. Aim for foods that are less than 5 percent of the Daily Value of sodium. Foods with 20 percent or more Daily Value of sodium are considered high.
To learn more about reading nutrition labels, see Reading the Label
Be Physically Active
Regular physical activity can lower high blood pressure and reduce your risk for other health problems. Everyone should try to participate in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise at least 2 hours and 30 minutes per week, or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise for 1 hour and 15 minutes per week. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, is any exercise in which your heart beats harder and you use more oxygen than usual. The more active you are, the more you will benefit. Participate in aerobic exercise for at least 10 minutes at a time, spread throughout the week.
Most people don’t need to see a doctor before they start a moderate-level physical activity. You should check first with your doctor if you:
have heart trouble or have had a heart attack
are over age 50 and are not used to moderate-level physical activity
have a family history of heart disease at an early age, or if you have any other serious health problem.
See examples of exercises for older adults at Exercises to Try.
For more on exercise and physical activity for older adults, visit Go4Life, the exercise and physical activity campaign from the National Institute on Aging
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight can help you control high blood pressure and reduce your risk for other health problems. Blood pressure rises as body weight increases. Losing even 10 pounds can lower blood pressure, and it has the greatest effect for those who are overweight and already have hypertension.
A useful measure of overweight and obesity is body mass index (BMI). BMI measures your weight in relation to your height. See the BMI calculator to determine your body mass index or talk to your health care provider.
A BMI:
below 18.5 is a sign that you are underweight.
between 18.5 and 24.9 is in the healthy range.
between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.
of 30 or more is considered obese.
A general goal to aim for is a BMI below 25. Your health care provider can help you set an appropriate BMI goal.
Measuring waist circumference helps screen for possible health risks. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk may be high with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.
To learn how to measure your waist, visit Assessing Your Weight and Health Risk. For more information about losing weight or maintaining your weight, see Aim for a Healthy Weight.
If You Drink
Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure. Alcohol also adds extra calories, which may cause weight gain. Men should have no more than two drinks a day, and women should have no more than one drink a day. See how drinking alcohol can affect you as you age.
Don't Smoke
Smoking injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process of hardening of the arteries. It increases your chances of stroke, heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, and several forms of cancer. If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke, don't start. Once you quit, your risk of having a heart attack is reduced after the first year. So you have a lot to gain by quitting. See how to start a smoking quit plan geared to older adults.
High Blood Pressure and Children: What Parents Need to Know
Children can have high blood pressure.
Did you know that children could have high blood pressure? In fact, the number of children with high blood pressure is growing.
The sooner high blood pressure is found in children, the sooner it can be treated.
All children 3 years of age and older should have their blood pressure checked regularly.
Having high blood pressure may not cause any symptoms. Having your child's blood pressure checked is the only way to know if he or she has high blood pressure. The normal range for blood pressure in children is usually lower than in adults. If the blood pressure is high at three health care visits, your child may need further testing.
High blood pressure in children needs to be treated.
Untreated high blood pressure can cause kidney disease, heart disease, eye disease, and other serious health problems over time. The longer the high blood pressure goes uncontrolled, the more harm it can cause. Treatment begins with lifestyle changes, such as diet changes, more physical activity, and weight loss. Some children also may need to take blood pressure medicines.
Steps to keep your child's blood pressure in the healthy range.
These tips are good for all children, especially those who have or are at risk for high blood pressure:
Give your child healthy home cooked food
Use less canned or pre-prepared food
Encourage physical activities
If your child smokes or chews tobacco, talk with his or her doctor about how to help your child quit
Make sure that your child takes his or her blood pressure medicine if prescribed.
What does it mean to eat a healthy diet?
Eating for healthy blood pressure means eating:
less salt and packaged foods that are high in sodium, and
more fruits and vegetables.
Questions to ask the doctor about your child's blood pressure
What is my child's blood pressure?
Is it in the normal range?
Is my child at risk for high blood pressure?
All children should have their blood pressure checked during their routine physical exams.
Those with a family history of high blood pressure and being overweight need to have it checked more often.
Clinical Trials
Participants in clinical trials can play a more active role in their own health care, gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available, and help others by contributing to medical research.
For more information, visit /www.clinicaltrials.gov.
High Blood Pressure - Infants
Causes
High blood pressure in infants may be due to kidney or heart disease that is present at birth (congenital). Common examples include:
Patent ductus arteriosus (blood vessel between the aorta and pulmonary artery that should close after birth, but remains open).
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (lung condition that affects newborn babies who were either put on a breathing machine after birth or were born very early).
Kidney disease involving the kidney tissue.
Renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the major blood vessel of the kidney)
In newborn babies, high blood pressure is often caused by a blood clot in a kidney blood vessel, a complication of having an umbilical artery catheter.
Other causes of high blood pressure in infants may include:
Certain medicines
Exposure to illegal drugs such as cocaine
Certain tumors
Inherited conditions (problems that run in families)
Thyroid problems
Blood pressure rises as the baby grows. The average blood pressure in a newborn is 64/41. The average blood pressure in a child 1 month through 2 years old is 95/58.
It is normal for these numbers to vary.
Symptoms
Most babies with high blood pressure will not have symptoms. Instead, symptoms may be related to the condition causing the high blood pressure.
These symptoms may include:
Symptoms that may appear if the baby has very high blood pressure include:
Irritability
Seizures
Trouble breathing
Vomiting
Exams and Tests
In most cases, the only sign of high blood pressure is the blood pressure measurement itself.
Signs of very high blood pressure include:
Blood pressure in infants is measured with an automatic device.
If coarctation of the aorta is the cause, there may be decreased pulses or blood pressure in the legs. A click may be heard if a bicuspid aortic valve occurs with the coarctation.
Other tests in infants with high blood pressure will try to find the cause of the problem.
Such tests may include:
A special type of x-ray that uses a dye to look at blood vessels (angiography)
Laboratory tests, including blood and urine tests
X-rays of the chest or abdomen
Ultrasounds, including an ultrasound of the working heart (echocardiogram) and of the kidneys
MRI of the blood vessels
Treatment
The treatment depends on the cause of high blood pressure in the infant.
Treatment can include:
Medicines to lower blood pressure or help the heart pump better.
Surgery (including transplantation surgery or repair of the coarctation).
Outlook (Prognosis)
How well the baby does depends on the cause of high blood pressure and other factors such as.
Other health problems in the baby.
Whether damage (such as kidney damage) has occurred as a result of the high blood pressure.
Possible Complications
Untreated, high blood pressure may lead to:
Heart or kidney failure
Organ damage
Seizures
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Call your health care provider if your baby:
Fails to grow and gain weight
Has bluish skin
Has frequent urinary tract infections
Seems irritable
Tires easily
Take your baby to the emergency department if your baby:
Has seizures
Is not responding
Is vomiting constantly
Prevention
Some causes of high blood pressure run in families. Talk to your provider before you get pregnant if you have a family history of:
Congenital heart disease
High blood pressure
Kidney disease
Also talk to your provider before becoming pregnant if you take medicine for a health problem.
Exposure to certain drugs in the womb may increase your baby's risk of developing problems that can lead to high blood pressure.
