Hypertension has largely been viewed as a disorder of adulthood. Historically, blood pressure (BP) was not routinely measured in children because hypertension was considered uncommon in childhood. It was not until the 1970s that it was apparent that in childhood BP levels were normally lower compared with those in adults, were related to age and growth, and that abnormal BP in children needed different definitions. Based on the distribution of BP levels in available child cohorts, the 95th percentile of BP levels became the definition of hypertension in children and adolescents-an epidemiological definition. Subsequent clinical and epidemiological research identified associated risk factors in childhood that linked abnormal BP in youth with hypertension in adulthood. In the 1980s, the Barker hypothesis, based on observations that low birth weight could be linked to cardiovascular disease in adulthood, promoted further research spanning epidemiological, clinical, and basic science on the childhood origins of hypertension. This review focuses on recent findings from both longitudinal maternal-child cohorts and experimental models that examine both maternal and offspring conditions associated with risks of subsequent cardiovascular disease.

中文翻译：

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心血管健康从子宫开始。


高血压在很大程度上被视为成年期的一种疾病。从历史上看，儿童的血压 （BP） 并不常规测量，因为高血压被认为在儿童时期并不常见。直到 1970 年代，很明显，儿童期的血压水平通常低于成人，这与年龄和生长有关，并且儿童的血压异常需要不同的定义。根据可用儿童队列中血压水平的分布，血压水平的第 95 个百分位数成为儿童和青少年高血压的定义——一种流行病学定义。随后的临床和流行病学研究确定了儿童期的相关危险因素，这些因素将青少年血压异常与成年期高血压联系起来。在 1980 年代，巴克假说基于低出生体重可能与成年期心血管疾病有关的观察，促进了对儿童高血压起源的流行病学、临床和基础科学的进一步研究。本综述侧重于纵向母婴队列和实验模型的最新发现，这些模型检查了与后续心血管疾病风险相关的母体和后代疾病。