So Passive Smokers, Children Can Hypertension

Children who live with parental smokers at
greater risk of suffering from
hypertension or high blood
pressure, although they are still
small. In fact, hypertension in
children can continue until they grow up. In the website of Indonesian
Pediatric Association (IDAI)
mentioned, hypertension in
children is a state of systolic
blood pressure and / or diastolic
average is at large equal to 95 percentile for age and sex, who
performed at least three times
of measurement. Hypertension in children divided
into two categories, namely
primary hypertension when the
cause of hypertension can not
be explained. Hypertension is
usually associated with hereditary factors, the input of
salt, stress, and obesity.
Meanwhile, secondary
hypertension occurs as a result
of other underlying diseases,
such as kidney disease. In recent research led by Dr
Giacomo D Simonetti from
Children's Hospital University of
Bern, Switzerland, stated that
secondhand smoke is a risk
factor of hypertension in children. In his research, Simonetti and his
team examined the data on 4236
boys and girls aged 5-6 years
living in the southwestern part
of Germany. Approximately 29
percent of the children's father and 21 percent of their mothers
were smokers. As many as 12
percent of children also have
parents who smoke. After accounting for other heart
disease factors, such as birth
weight, premature birth or
parental hypertension, the
researchers found that parental
smoking is an independent factor on the incidence of hypertension
in children. The study also found children
whose mothers smoke have
worse effects on blood pressure
than if exposed to cigarette
smoke from his father. "Prevention of cardiovascular
disease in adulthood can be
started from the age of the
children by avoiding risk factors,
including avoiding exposure to
cigarette smoke. The consequences can last long
term," said Simonetti.