Racial differences in prevalence and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The aim of this review is to assess the evidence regarding racial differences in the prevalence and severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We reviewed the published literature that reported prevalence, severity, and genetic associations of NAFLD in different ethnic groups. The metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been associated with NAFLD, but each component of the MetS is present in various races in different percentages and their effect on NAFLD appears to be dissimilar.

Baseline blood pressure control in Hispanics: characteristics of Hispanics in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial.

The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) tested whether a systolic blood pressure (SBP) value <120 mm Hg reduces adverse clinical outcomes compared with the goal of <140 mm Hg. Here the authors describe the baseline characteristics of Hispanic participants in SPRINT. Nondiabetic hypertensive patients 50 years and older with SBP 130-180 mm Hg taking zero to four blood pressure (BP) medications were enrolled from the mainland United States and Puerto Rico.

Characterizing Frailty Status in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial.

Background: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) is testing whether a lower systolic blood pressure (BP) target of 120 mm Hg leads to a reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among hypertensive, nondiabetic adults. Because there may be detrimental effects of intensive BP control, particularly in older, frail adults, we sought to characterize frailty within SPRINT to address ongoing questions about the ability of large-scale trials to enroll representative samples of noninstitutionalized, community-dwelling, older adults.

Methods: We constructed a 36-item frailty index (FI) in 9,306 SPRINT participants, classifying participants as fit (FI ≤ 0.