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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffLifestyle changes, including a heart-healthy diet and exercise, are often the first approach your child's doctor will recommend to lower your child's blood pressure.
If your child is diagnosed with slightly or moderately high blood pressure (prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension), your child's doctor will likely suggest trying lifestyle changes, such as a heart-healthy diet and more exercise, before prescribing medications. If your child's blood pressure doesn't decrease after trying lifestyle changes, your child's doctor may recommend blood pressure medication. If your child is diagnosed with severely high blood pressure (stage 2 hypertension), your child's doctor will likely recommend blood pressure medications. These medications may include:
- Diuretics. These medications, also known as water pills, act on your child's kidneys to help your child eliminate sodium and water, reducing blood pressure.
- Beta blockers. These medications reduce the workload on your child's heart, causing it to beat slower and with less force.
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These medications help relax your child's blood vessels by blocking the formation of a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels. This makes it easier for your child's blood to flow, reducing blood pressure.
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers. These medications help relax blood vessels by blocking a natural chemical that narrows your child's blood vessels.
- Calcium channel blockers. These medications help relax the muscles of your child's blood vessels and may slow his or her heart rate.
Your child may need blood pressure medications temporarily or indefinitely. If your child's high blood pressure is caused by obesity, losing weight may eliminate the need for medication. In other cases, treating other medical conditions your child has might control his or her blood pressure.
Although little is known about the long-term effects of blood pressure medication on a child's growth and development, many of these medications are generally considered safe to take during childhood. Depending on the specific drug, side effects are possible, including dry mouth, dizziness and fatigue.
- Matoo TK. Definition and diagnosis of hypertension in children and adolescents. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2010.
- High blood pressure in children. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml?identifier=214. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- Luma GB, et al. Hypertension in children and adolescents. American Family Physician. 2006;73:1158.
- What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure? The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbp/HBP_SignsAndSymptoms.html. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- Hypertensive emergencies. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec07/ch071/ch071c.html. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2004;114:555.
- Anglum A. Primary care management of childhood and adolescent hypertension. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. 2009;21:529.
- Flynn JT. Hypertension in the young: Epidemiology, sequelae and therapy. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2009;24:370.
- Stergiou GS, et al. Home blood pressure monitoring in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Journal of Hypertension. 2009;27:1941.
- Garin EH, et al. Treatment of systemic hypertension in children and adolescents. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2009;21:600.
- Lurbe E, et al. Management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents: recommendations of the European Society of Hypertension. Journal of Hypertension. 2009;27:17.
- Hoecker J (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 11, 2010.
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