Mothers Can Be the Cause of High Blood Pressure in Children

According to a recently conducted study, children of mothers with a certain genetic mutation are more prone of developing high blood pressure.

A group of researchers from China, U. S. and Austria analyzed a five-generation Chinese family and revealed that a number of its members who come down from the same female ancestor had high blood pressure. The main cause that was found out by the researchers was a genetic mutation that has a big impact on the mitochondria, which are the ''powerhouses'' of the cells that alter energy into useable forms. As suggested by the discovery, a mitochondrial DNA mutation could be highly responsible for high blood pressure in some people.

In this regard, researcher Min-Xin Guan, Ph. D., a Professor of Genetics at Zhejiang University in China said that

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NEW STUDY: CHOCOLATE DURING PREGNANCY LOWERS RISKS OF HYPERTENSION

As if anyone needed another reason to eat chocolate, new research published in the August 2010 issue of the Annals of Epidemiology suggests that chocolate may be good for both gestational hypertension (GH) and for preeclampsia.1

This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with a lot of other research regarding chocolate, most of which has been featured here on NaturalNews in the past. Gestational hypertension is physiologically related to some forms of generalized high blood pressure and heart disease symptoms, which have been shown to be lowered beneficially through chocolate consumption (especially chocolates based on real cacao).2

This latest study was conducted by researchers from the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and from the Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology

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BLOOD-PRESSURE DRUGS LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS

Blood-pressure medications known as ACE inhibitors can't be considered safe to take even in the first trimester of pregnancy and should be avoided altogether by pregnant women, a new study suggests.

For years, doctors have known these commonly prescribed blood-pressure drugs aren't safe during the second and third trimesters due to their association with birth defects. So, physicians have routinely switched women to other medications once they find out they were pregnant. An estimated 5 percent to 8 percent of women develop high blood pressure, or hypertension, during pregnancy, according to the March of Dimes.

But the new study suggests the wisest course is to avoid ACE inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme) drugs during the entire pregnancy.

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EXTRA CALCIUM MAY PREVENT HYPERTENSION PROBLEMS IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Expectant mothers may be able to prevent potentially serious medical problems in themselves and their babies simply by boosting their daily calcium intake, says a new systematic review. Not only that, but pregnant women at greatest risk for these problems may benefit most from the extra calcium.

The problems are gestational hypertension — or high blood pressure associated with pregnancy — and preeclampsia, a medical disorder of pregnant women characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.

If untreated, both conditions can lead to potentially life-threatening medical problems for the mother and complications of preterm birth for the baby, including low birth weight and size, respiratory distress, long-term neurological deficits and even death.

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