We are a hypertensive country, There's no doubt, but what is Chilean medicine doing about it?? This question is partly answered with the active work of the Chilean Society of Arterial Hypertension, entity that oversees the research of medical and scientific procedures linked to professionals immersed in the study of this highly prevalent disease in the population. Composed of a wide range of health professionals, ranging from nephrologists to cardiologists, The Chilean Society of Arterial Hypertension is positioned as a reference in this problem.
Surprisingly, a significant percentage of this universe of hypertensives corresponds to children., since factors such as poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle that exceeds normal parameters, These are points that encourage the appearance of this evil in our little ones..
In this context and on the verge of the start of the III version of the Arterial Hypertension Congress – which will take place on the 7,8 y 9 September in the premises of the Cumbres hotel, Vitacura commune, and will feature topics such as the “Epidemiology of Arterial Hypertension in Chile and Latin America”, “High blood pressure in specific groups: Elderly, Pregnancy, Niño, Adolescents” and “Common errors in the management of hypertensive patients” – we talked with Dr.. Edda Lagomarsino, who is a Physician-Pediatrician and Teaching Director of the Directorate of Medical Specialties, Science Faculty, Major university.
Dr.. Lagomarsino has extensive experience in the clinical-pediatric field linked to high blood pressure., and has witnessed how our country has advanced in the knowledge associated with this problem, that is already positioned as a reality.
Below is the interview that the Arterial Hypertension Society conducted with Dr.. Edda Lagomarsino Ferrari.
What is the importance of this congress in scientific fields?, medical and cultural?
It is very important and relevant, since these instances demonstrate that there are indeed professionals in Chile who are working from their different fields of specialties to eradicate this disease from our population.. The congress is also a global window that allows us to generate networks with professionals who have different and varied points of view associated with high blood pressure..
Where does your approach to the area of arterial hypertension come from??
I am a pediatrician and I entered the area of hypertension from that path.. I developed this at a time in history when pediatric patients were measured by the same range on the pressure scale as adult patients.. This was due to an erroneous medical-cultural notion in which no one took children's blood pressure., and that led to the existence of the same measuring stick for everyone.. A newborn child 4 kilos was compared with the same data that a person of 80 kilos. Fortunately, advances in medicine and pediatrics have led us today to realize that pressure values in children and adults are not comparable..
Just in the year 2004 a large study of normal pressures for school children appeared, that showed, on a large scale, that pressure varies in pediatric patients as they grow. In that sense, Different data emerge as one advances in biological age and that was very important to understand to gain knowledge that would serve as medical tools against hypertension..
The III Congress of Arterial Hypertension from Pediatrics
The importance of this new congress lies, partly, in which there are several pediatric presentations that are linked to the development of hypertension in a national and global scenario, where there are hypertensive patients at childhood level, who are about to enter adolescence.
It is also important to understand that hypertension in children began to be understood better thanks to the new knowledge that informed us., the medical community, that there are individuals who are born with a predisposition to be hypertensive, which is almost certainly expressed in its adult stage.
We understood over the years, that those babies born with a weight below the appropriate, potentially more likely to develop hypertension as adults. To these data is added the genetic incidence that is studied, which indicates that a child born to a hypertensive father and mother will also have a high possibility of expressing the disease.
With all this background we come to the conclusion that the only way to prevent hypertension is to act at the pediatric level., recognizing which children are in the risk zone and starting the relevant protocols with them, including pressure taking, and of course preventive measures; avoid obesity in these children who have a genetic predisposition, avoid excess salt in your diet, encourage exercise and decrease your sedentary lifestyle rates, among other.
This congress includes several presentations by pediatricians who will talk about these topics, and in part, puts the focus on children. If we want to delay the appearance of hypertension and all the cardiovascular problems that result, we must intensify knowledge at this level. These types of instances are steps towards greater awareness on the issue..
Hypertension congresses around the world have gradually included topics on childhood hypertension..
Fuente: 4ID/CONGRESS, All rights reserved. ®
Journalist: Patricio Grunert Alarcón. ®
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Cite as source: 4ID/CONGRESS ® / Patricio Grunert Alarcón, All rights reserved. ®