Title: Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
Headings: Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
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Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
Health care disparities heighten disease differences between African-Americans and white Americans.

Content: Why? "What sets the stage for the more aggressive and higher incidence of heart disease in African-Americans is a very high incidence of high blood pressure ," Yancy says. " This predisposes African-Americans to more heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. And heart failure -- an African-American is much more likely to get there with an absence of previous heart disease. That is most important. This makes us focus on high blood pressure as it forces heart failure." Continued
Clinical trials show blacks and whites respond differently to treatments for high blood pressure. Indeed, treatment guidelines suggest that doctors should consider different drugs based on a patient's race. But Yancey says that a closer look at the data shows that race tends to be a marker for more complicated high blood pressure treatment. "Data suggests that all therapies do equally well -- but patients at higher risk need more intensive therapy," he says.