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Protein Found In Urine May Be Early Indicator of Hypertension in Adolescents

A study published in the February issue of Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that testing for increased levels of albumin in the urine can predict hypertension in black adolescents.The use of the test has previously focused on the sick population. “What we were looking to find was the prevalence of the problem in a healthy population of children and adolescents and the impact of race, sex, sodium-handling and blood pressure on microalbuminuria,” said Dr. Gregory Harshfield, director of the Medical College of Georgia’s Georgia Prevention Institute.

Researchers studied 317 healthy teens age 15-18, and found that the black teens had a ten percent higher excretion rate of albumin in their urine, with black girls having a twenty-two percent higher rate. Both groups had normal blood pressure, suggesting that kidney damage is occurring even before the development of hypertension.

“What we’ve shown is that children and adolescents, particularly black children, can display reduced kidney function prior to the onset of hypertension. Therefore, it would be prudent to measure levels of microalbuminuria in high-risk patients,” said Dr. Harshfield.

Source: Medical College of Georgia

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