Title: Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention, Treatment and Research | Johns Hopkins Medicine
Headings: Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention, Treatment and Research
Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention, Treatment and Research
Prevention
Diagnosis
Treatment
Living With...
Research

Content: African-Americans are at increased risk of congestive heart failure. This is due to diabetes and high blood pressure, rather than race alone. In a study involving nearly 7,000 men and women, Johns Hopkins researchers were able to discover the underlying reason that African-Americans are known to develop heart disease more than any other race. When diabetes and high blood pressure are factored out, they face no higher risk. A simple blood test can determine which patients will fare better after hospital discharge. Johns Hopkins researchers realized that congestive heart failure patients with a certain level of a protein linked to heart stress were 57 percent more likely to be readmitted to the hospital.