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Autonomic Nervous System Dysregulation in Pediatric Hypertension

  • Pediatric Hypertension (JT Flynn, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Historically, primary hypertension (HTN) has been prevalent typically in adults. Recent data however, suggests an increasing number of children diagnosed with primary HTN, mainly in the setting of obesity. One of the factors considered in the etiology of HTN is the autonomous nervous system, namely its dysregulation. In the past, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) was regarded as a system engaged mostly in buffering major acute changes in blood pressure (BP), in response to physical and emotional stressors. Recent evidence suggests that the SNS plays a much broader role in the regulation of BP, including the development and maintenance of sustained HTN by a chronically elevated central sympathetic tone in adults and children with central/visceral obesity. Consequently, attempts have been made to reduce the SNS hyperactivity, in order to intervene early in the course of the disease and prevent HTN-related complications later in life.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Mrs. Brandy Brookings, the administrative assistant in the Division of Nephrology, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, for her revision of the English language.

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Conflict of Interest

Janusz Feber, Marcel Ruzicka, Pavel Geier, and Mieczyslaw Litwin, declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8 L1, Canada

    Janusz Feber & Pavel Geier

  2. Division of Nephrology, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, 1967 Riverside Dr. Suite 5-21, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 7 W9, Canada

    Marcel Ruzicka

  3. Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Aleja Dzieci Polskich 20, 04-730, Warsaw, Poland

    Mieczyslaw Litwin

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  1. Janusz Feber
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  2. Marcel Ruzicka
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  4. Mieczyslaw Litwin
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Correspondence to Janusz Feber.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pediatric Hypertension

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Feber, J., Ruzicka, M., Geier, P. et al. Autonomic Nervous System Dysregulation in Pediatric Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep 16, 426 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0426-z

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