Many people think that suffering from hypertension is the patent of the elderly. The reporter learned from Sun Yixian Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University that in fact, in recent years, hypertension has become younger and younger, and there are many children aged 6 to 17, mainly due to obesity.
Obesity is an important cause of abnormal blood pressure in children.
Professor Huang Hui, director of hypertension department of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, said that in 2010, a total of 190,000 Han children aged between 7 and 17 were investigated in the National Student Physical Fitness Research Project. The survey results show that the prevalence of hypertension among children in China has reached 14.5% in 2010. Among them, 16.9% are men and 12.9% are women. According to the health and nutrition survey in China, the prevalence rate of hypertension among children aged 6 to 17 in seven provinces and cities in China increased from 7.1% in 1991 to 13.8% in 2009, showing an obvious upward trend.
From 2012 to 2015, the professional team conducted a multi-center survey on the current situation of hypertension and salt intake of children in China during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period, so as to understand the prevalence of hypertension among children in China.
Through the analysis of the data collected at present, the following results are found:
1. The prevalence rates of hypertension in children aged 6 to 17 in China at three different time points were 17.6%, 8.2% and 5.0%, respectively. The prevalence rate of hypertension decreased gradually from the first time point to the third time point, with the largest decline from the first time point to the second time point.
2.9 to 17 years old children’s daily dietary salt intake exceeds the level recommended by WHO (daily dietary salt intake<5g)的2.4倍,儿童每日膳食盐摄入水平是儿童高血压的重要危险因素,控盐工作任重道远。
3. Isolated systolic hypertension accounts for 62.3%→66%→67.5% of hypertension in children at three different times, while isolated diastolic hypertension only accounts for 13.8%→8.6%→7.9%, which shows that isolated systolic hypertension plays an important role in children’s hypertension.
4. The proportions of hypertension and obesity diagnosed at the first, second and third time points were 30%, 37.7% and 40.8% respectively, and the detection rate of hypertension in obese children was 41.8% (at the first time point). Obesity is an important cause of hypertension in children, and controlling obesity will be beneficial for children to maintain a good blood pressure level and prevent hypertension.
Diseases caused by hypertension are very dangerous.
Professor Huang Hui said that in addition to the high-salt diet, there are three reasons for this age-old hypertension:
1. heredity
Data show that hypertension is hereditary. If both parents have hypertension, the incidence of hypertension in their children can reach 46%, and one parent has hypertension, and the incidence of hypertension in their children is 28%. Parents have normal blood pressure, and the incidence of hypertension in their children is only 3%.
2. Bad living habits
Bad changes in living habits and eating habits are the causes of hypertension, and a lot of drinking and smoking can cause hypertension. Another study shows that people who often stay up late are prone to hypertension and even stroke, and their lives are orderly. People who usually go to bed early and get up early have a low proportion of hypertension. The reporter once heard of a 27-year-old young man with acute myocardial infarction, who works in the night market for a long time, smokes for a long time and leads an extremely irregular life.
3. Life is stressful
With the development of society, the competition is becoming more and more fierce, and the pressure of work and life makes people breathless. Excessive pressure will lead to the increase of catecholamine secretion in the body, which will cause vasoconstriction, increase blood pressure and increase heart load, thus becoming the cause of hypertension.
Hypertension itself is not very harmful and easily overlooked, but a series of diseases caused by hypertension are very dangerous, especially some cardiovascular diseases, so we must pay attention to the causes that can cause hypertension. The main reasons why children in China suffer from hypertension are: imitating western eating habits and fierce competition, so the age of hypertensive patients tends to be younger and younger.
There are many reasons why young people suffer from hypertension.
Professor Huang Hui said that young people are increasingly favored by high blood pressure for the following reasons:
1. Stress and nervousness
Stress and mental stress are the main causes of hypertension. In the past, a few occupations, such as accountants and drivers, had a high incidence of hypertension due to great pressure and mental stress, but now they are in a period of social transformation. People’s pressure comes not only from work, but also from their families, such as buying a house and car, education and employment, medical security, etc., and the pressure is everywhere. Stress and mental stress will also cause sympathetic nerve excitement and vasoconstriction, which will lead to an increase in blood pressure.
2. Obesity and overweight
Obesity and overweight are also important causes of hypertension in young people. In the past, the degree of mechanization was not high, people’s activities were large, and obesity and overweight were rare. Nowadays, the degree of mechanization and automation is high, and there is no need to work hard, and the living conditions are good. Overweight and obese patients abound. Obesity can easily lead to metabolic disorder, fat accumulation and arteriosclerosis in the body, which leads to an increase in blood pressure.
3. The biological clock is disturbed
Scientists have found that if the biological clock is disturbed, it will cause high blood pressure. This is because the gene responsible for controlling the secretion of aldosterone also controls the operation of the physiological clock. "Aldosterone" is a hormone. It is found that when the "Aldosterone" is secreted too much in mice, blood pressure will continue to rise. The researchers disturbed the living rules of mice and disrupted their biological clocks, and found that aldosterone was secreted in large quantities and the blood pressure of mice soared. There is also "aldosterone" in the human body. Therefore, researchers warn that shift workers, flight attendants, airplane pilots, writers, journalists and other people often have abnormal work and rest, and these ethnic groups should pay attention to the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
4. Bad habits
Such as hobbies such as alcohol and tobacco. The harm of tobacco to blood vessels mainly comes from nicotine, which can cause contraction of vascular smooth muscle and increase blood pressure. After patients with hypertension quit smoking, the low pressure will directly drop by 5 to 10 mm Hg. Alcohol will harden arterial blood vessels, reduce the elasticity of blood vessels and eventually lead to high blood pressure.
5. High salt diet
Among the common factors of modern young people suffering from hypertension, high-salt diet ranks first. Northerners have a strong taste, and they pursue salty flavor when eating. They drink a hot soup in the morning, stir-fry at noon and eat hot pot at night. Every meal is salty. The normal salt intake is no more than 5 grams per person per day, but most people are above 9 grams, but too much salt will be lost, and too much sodium intake will cause sodium water retention, increase blood vessel capacity, and eventually lead to high blood pressure.
6. There are "emotional killers" in the workplace.
There are many emotional killers in the workplace, which makes people’s cerebral cortex excited and inhibited. First of all, the working environment is depressed, the well-defined cubicle and the serious expression of the boss make the white-collar workers say "the working environment is too depressed"; Secondly, there are few opportunities to communicate with people. Some white-collar workers in science and technology are faced with drawings, copywriting, plans, etc. Every day, there are a lot of topics to be solved, but there are few opportunities to communicate face to face with people, and most of them communicate with people through machines (such as email and RTX); Finally, the monthly appraisal, annual summary. Some employees work hard, but their grades are not good, which makes people feel pessimistic and even produces the pressure of losing their jobs.
The study found that compared with carefree people, men who are anxious and depressed have a 1.5 times higher risk of getting high blood pressure. The risk of women has increased by 1.7 times. The study also found that if a man says he has lost hope, he is three times more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than a man with a hopeful life.
How to eat with high blood pressure?
Professor Huang Hui said that the diet of patients with hypertension should follow the following principles:
1. Control the intake of heat energy
Diet is a very important item in our life, so we should pay attention to our reasonable diet in life. In order to improve the clinical symptoms of hypertension, we should advocate eating foods with more plant fiber such as starch, standard flour, corn, millet and oats, and promote intestinal peristalsis, which is beneficial to cholesterol excretion. Eat less glucose, fructose and sucrose, which are monosaccharides and are easy to cause high blood lipids.
Step 2 limit the intake of fat
A healthy life is inseparable from a healthy diet, especially if you have high blood pressure, you should pay more attention to your healthy eating measures. The intake of animal fat should be limited in diet, and vegetable oil should be used in cooking. You can eat more fish. Marine fish contains unsaturated fatty acids, which can oxidize cholesterol, thus lowering plasma cholesterol, prolonging platelet aggregation, inhibiting thrombosis and preventing stroke. Marine fish also contains more linoleic acid, which plays a certain role in increasing the elasticity of microvessels, preventing vascular rupture and preventing hypertension complications.
3. Appropriate intake of protein
A reasonable life should also pay attention to the rationality of diet, especially to increase your common sense of healthy life. In the past, low-protein diet was emphasized, but at present, it is considered that it is generally unnecessary to strictly limit the intake of protein except those with chronic renal insufficiency. The amount of protein for hypertensive patients should be 1 gram per kilogram of body weight. For example, a person with a weight of 60 kilograms should eat 60 grams of protein every day. Among them, plant protein should account for 50%, and soybean protein is the best. Although soybean protein has no antihypertensive effect, it can prevent the occurrence of stroke, which may be related to the composition of amino acids in soybean protein. You should also eat fish protein 2 to 3 times a week, which can improve the elasticity and permeability of blood vessels, increase urine and sodium excretion, and thus lower blood pressure. Usually, we should pay more attention to eating foods rich in tyrosine, such as defatted milk, sour milk, milk tofu, sea fish, etc. If hypertension is complicated with renal insufficiency, we should limit the intake of protein.
4. Eat more foods rich in potassium and calcium and low in sodium.
Young patients with hypertension should pay attention to their diet, especially their healthy lifestyle. Eat more foods rich in potassium and calcium but low in sodium, such as potatoes, taro, eggplant, kelp, lettuce, wax gourd, watermelon, etc., because potassium salt can promote cholesterol excretion, increase vascular elasticity, have diuretic effect, and help improve myocardial contractility. Foods rich in calcium, such as milk, yogurt, sesame paste, shrimp skin and green vegetables, have protective effects on cardiovascular system. Choose foods rich in magnesium, such as green leafy vegetables, millet, buckwheat noodles, beans and bean products. Magnesium salt can reduce blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels.
5. Diet should be light
A light diet is also important in life. Appropriate reduction of sodium intake is helpful to lower blood pressure. While paying attention to reducing sodium, we should also pay attention to the sodium content in food, such as dried noodles containing more sodium. When steaming steamed bread, avoid using alkali and use yeast to make dough instead. Available salt substitutes, such as salt-free soy sauce, are beneficial to patients with hypertension.
6. Eat more green vegetables and fresh fruits.
A healthy eating life is to pay attention to eating more vegetables, especially green vegetables. Eating more green vegetables and fresh fruits is beneficial to myocardial metabolism, improving myocardial function and blood circulation, promoting cholesterol excretion and preventing the development of hypertension. Eat less broth, because the increase of nitrogen-containing extract in broth can promote the increase of uric acid in the body and increase the burden on the heart, liver and kidney. (Text/Zhu Suying)