According to Dr. V. Jagadeesh Kumar, leading physician at KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad, poor lifestyle habits, obesity, sleep deprivation, and consumption of junk and processed food are significant factors contributing to high blood pressure (BP) in youth and adolescents. He emphasizes that there is no medical disease called “low BP” and that low BP is usually a momentary finding rather than a condition.
BP is termed a silent killer because abnormally elevated blood pressure can damage blood vessels and organs without noticeable symptoms until significant harm occurs, such as heart stroke, brain stroke, vision loss, or kidney failure.
High blood pressure (hypertension) affects the body by causing damage to blood vessels and organs. On the other hand, there is no disease specifically called low BP. It may be a temporary situation caused by dehydration, but there is no proper medical definition or disease related to it.
Hypertension in adolescents is caused by various factors, including genetic factors, poor lifestyle habits, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, sleep deprivation, and unhealthy food consumption.
High BP during pregnancy, termed hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, can lead to complications like low birth weight, seizures, pregnancy loss, preterm delivery, and other related issues.
Regarding technology, while it doesn’t directly impact blood pressure control, it indirectly affects it by promoting sedentary lifestyles and increasing stress due to an “infodemic” of health information causing panic among youngsters, leading to an increased incidence of hypertension.
