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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
High Blood Pressure In My 21 Year Old Son
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High Blood Pressure In My 21 Year Old Son
by Kathy-Fir, Nov 03, 1998 12:00AM
My 21 year old son has been taking medicne for high blood pressure since age 17. Lately his blood pressure has been elevated to 148/110. His medicine was doubled and is still staying at 138/96. Now his doctor has trippled his medicine to try to get his blood pressure down.
My son does not smoke, drinks very rarely adn does not use drugs. He is a college student studying premedicine and loves it. He is not under pressure to continue in this field, he has chosen to do this on his own.
He has a venus lake caused from cerebral fluid leaking (I think that was how it was explained to me). He had viral menengitis at age 13. He was born with acute hypospadius and had 6 surgeries starting at age 13 to correct this problem. He also has chronic asthma.
The time his blood pressure stays elevated is when he is active in sports. It will stay elevated throughout the season. Then about a week or 2 after the season ends his blood pressure is able to be controlled with medicine and does not fluctuate as it has been.
He weights 150 lbs and it 5'8" tall.
Do you have any suggestions I can give to his doctor as to what to do next. He is really working to try to get this under control. My son will be home for the holidays and will probably have some more testing to try and determine the cause.
I will appreciate any suggestions you can give me on this very important matter.
Thank you,
Kathy
Kathy
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Nov 03, 1998 12:00AM
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Dear Kathy, thank you for your question. It's unusual for a young male to have hypertension and it sounds like your son's increased blood pressure has been difficult to treat. I can't postulate an association with the cerebral abnormalities that you mention, but certainly, that may be playing a role. There are rare causes of hypertension that may need to be investigated: adrenal gland abnormalities, disorders of salt regulation in the kidneys, and hyperthyroidism. A nephrologist is a physician who specializes in the treatment of kidney disorders and hypertension. I think your son may be helped by a nephrologist, so you may want to speak with his physician about a referral to a nephrologist. Also, a nephrologist may be able to devise a combination of medications that would be more effective at controlling his blood pressure. Good luck!
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
Dear Kathy, thank you for your question. It's unusual for a young male to have hypertension and it sounds like your son's increased blood pressure has been difficult to treat. I can't postulate an association with the cerebral abnormalities that you mention, but certainly, that may be playing a role. There are rare causes of hypertension that may need to be investigated: adrenal gland abnormalities, disorders of salt regulation in the kidneys, and hyperthyroidism. A nephrologist is a physician who specializes in the treatment of kidney disorders and hypertension. I think your son may be helped by a nephrologist, so you may want to speak with his physician about a referral to a nephrologist. Also, a nephrologist may be able to devise a combination of medications that would be more effective at controlling his blood pressure. Good luck!
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
