Q: My niece is 8 years old. She is normally a timid, emotional type of a child. Recently when we were preparing her for the Tonsils operation, she showed presence of High BP and postponement due to this reason. Is it really possible for a child of her age to have high B.P. and if so, what is the way to prevent and stay healthier, in her case? In order to develop her into a more bold, more confident child, can you suggest a few good names of Psychiatric doctors in Chennai whose help can be taken?

A:It is possible that the high BP recorded could be an isolated reading due to apprehension of surgery. But this needs to be checked frequently and if the high BP is sustained then more extensive investigations are warrented to look for other causes at this age and not assume that this is essential (no cause) hypertension. Since they are living in Chennai the best place that I know of is to to go to the Madras Medical Mission which has a full fledged Pediatric Cardiology section or else to the Ramachandra Institute of Medical Sciences where they can contact Dr MS Ranjith who is a Pediatric Cardiologist. I would not be able to advice on Psychiatric consulatation in Chennai.