An Evidence Based Study of Autonomic Dysfunction in Children with a Family History of Hypertension

Aim: The aim of the present study was to perform the set of standard autonomic function tests in children with a family history of hypertension and compare the results with children of normotensive parents. Background: Hypertension is considered one of the highest causes of morbidity worldwide and it becomes one of the leading causes of death due to cardiovascular and renal failure. Hypertension can be especially hard to manage when combined with other disorders, such as diabetes or obesity. Most of the children with a family history of hypertension forms the risk factor for being hypertensive in future life. Results: The study included 60 young and healthy children. Out of them, 30 children were selected based on their family history of hypertension while the remaining were the children of normotensive parents. The subjects were selected based on exclusion-inclusion criteria. All the children underwent for a set of autonomic function tests which are non-invasive, simple and comfortable. Results showed that children with a family history of hypertension have abnormal values on autonomicfunction testing, when compared with children of normotensive parents. The results were obtained using ANOVA and student‘t’ –test, to study the significance of autonomic parameters. Conclusion: This study stated that the children with family history of hypertension experienced mild to moderate autonomic fluctuations in early age which may make them more susceptible to hypertension in their future life.