Peripheral and Central Hemodynamic Responses to Rhythmic Handgrip Exercise in Young, Healthy Black Women.

Purpose: Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) women in the United States exhibit higher prevalence and mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Previous studies in NHB men have demonstrated impaired vascular function at rest and during exercise; however, to date, no studies have investigated the hyperemic responses during exercise in NHB women. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that, compared with NHW women, NHB women would present an attenuated increase in forearm blood flow (FBF) and forearm vascular conductance (FVC) during steady-state rhythmic handgrip exercise.