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Children with hypertension left undiagnosed

Undiagnosed high blood pressure in children leaves them at high risk for developing organ damage in the future, a new study reports.

The study

The study which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)suggests that many doctors wrongly assume that hypertension is a problem only for adults.

Researchers in Cleveland tracked over 14,000 children and found only 26% of those who had hypertension had been diagnosed.

The report stated, "If abnormal blood pressure is not identified by a patient's pediatric clinician, it may be years before the abnormal blood pressure is detected, leading to end-organ damage. Because effective treatments for abnormal blood pressure exist, these long-term sequelae can be avoided with early diagnosis."

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