Strokes in Children Not the Same as in Adults

For the first time ever, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have issued guidelines for dealing with strokes in infants and children, an event once thought so rare that such guidelines were not warranted.  New diagnostic tools and in-depth studies of the children who experience strokes, however, reveal the event is still uncommon but not so rare that similarities and specific characteristics cannot be documented.  And one very important factor in children’s strokes is that they are quite different from the strokes adults suffer; so different, in fact, that treatment and prevention measures are most effective when handled in an age-appropriate manner. Read more

Annual Blood Pressure Screening for Children Recommended by AHA

The American Heart Association recommends that children over age 3 receive annual blood pressure measurements, noting that even babies can have high blood pressure. A new analysis of blood pressure studies shows that high blood pressure in childhood is a predictor of high blood pressure in adults. Read more