Hypertension - Health Hotline

ONE in four adults, or 50 million Americans, has hypertension or high blood pressure, a condition that causes the heart to work harder to pump blood through narrowed arteries. Over time the heart and blood vessels can become damaged and increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney or heart failure.

African-Americans have high blood pressure more than any other group and may be victimized by high blood pressure earlier in life. African-Americans also have a higher death rate from stroke and kidney disease than Whites. Hypertension-related eye damage is twice as common in Blacks than Whites. Being disadvantaged in several areas, such as income, education and occupation, is related to an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, researchers report.

It takes at least two readings of the blood pressure to determine if a person has hypertension. A consistent blood pressure reading of 135185 or higher is considered high blood pressure. The first number is the systolic pressure (the rate that the heart beats); the second is the diastolic pressure (the rate that the heart relaxes between beats). Because hypertension usually doesn't have symptoms until it is life-threatening, hypertension is called the "silent killer," killing nearly 700,000 a year.

There is no cure for hypertension, but making changes to the diet and engaging in physical activity can lower blood pressure.

New hope is on the horizon for those who have suffered hypertension-related kidney disease. The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension, a groundbreaking clinical trial conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, concluded that while high blood pressure may be more severe and therefore more difficult to control in Blacks, it is controllable.

"The results of this trial will significantly improve the health of thousands of African-Americans who suffer from kidney disease due to hypertension, says Dr. John Ruffin, director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which co-funded the study.

The researchers studied 1,094 Black patients, aged 18-70, for three to six years and found that certain inhibiting drugs dramatically reduced the risk of reaching hypertension-related kidney failure and/or death.

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