Infants with low birth weight are more prone to developing high blood pressure and wider variations in blood pressure readings in later life than children whose birth weight is normal, according to a study presented today at the 54th Annual Fall Conference of the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research. Blood pressure variability is an indication of the cardiovascular system's capacity for controlling blood pressure changes in the presence of different stimuli. When babies do not grow properly in the mother's womb, they are likely to have low birth weight. The factors involved remain elusive, but it has been suggested that low birth weight may impair kidney function or induce changes in blood vessel walls that might lead to high blood pressure later in life. Smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy are among the most important causes of slower intrauterine development and low birth weight, Lurbe notes.
Poor nutrition is also a frequent cause.
Improvements in fetal nutrition and growth, through better maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy and abstaining from cigarettes and alcohol, may be the essential strategy for the primary prevention of hypertension in low birth weight children. Readings taken during a wide range of daytime and nighttime activities showed that systolic blood pressure was higher and tended to vary more from reading to reading in children with the lowest birth weights. Male and female children appear to be equally affected by the lower birth weights, Lurbe notes.