Title: Why Do Black Americans Have Higher Prevalence of Hypertension? | Hypertension
Headings: Why Do Black Americans Have Higher Prevalence of Hypertension?
Why Do Black Americans Have Higher Prevalence of Hypertension?
An Enigma Still Unsolved
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Content: An Enigma Still Unsolved
Flávio D. Fuchs
Flávio D. Fuchs
Flávio D. Fuchs From the Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Search for more papers by this author
Originally published 7 Feb 2011 https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.110.163196 Hypertension. 2011;57:379–380
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Studies have consistently reported a higher prevalence of hypertension in blacks than in whites, a main reason for the higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in blacks. 1 The long list of putative causes for this higher prevalence suggests that the real reasons are still unknown. Biological differences in the mechanisms of blood pressure control or in the environment and habits of whites and blacks are among the potential causes. The higher prevalence of hypertension in blacks living in the United States instead of Africa 2 demonstrates that environmental and behavioral characteristics are the more likely reasons for the higher prevalence in blacks living in the United States. They could act directly or by triggering mechanisms of blood pressure increase that are dormant in blacks living in Africa.