Racial differences in arterial stiffness and microcirculatory function between Black and White Americans.

Background: Compared with whites, black Americans suffer from a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that racial differences in the prevalence of CVD could be attributed, in part, to impaired vascular function in blacks after adjustment for differences in risk factor burden.

Methods And Results: We assessed vascular function in 385 black and 470 white subjects (mean age, 48±11 years; 45% male).

A genetic risk variant for myocardial infarction on chromosome 6p24 is associated with impaired central hemodynamic indexes.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified novel variants associated with myocardial infarction (MI) in Caucasians. We hypothesized that those variants whose mechanism of risk is currently unknown, confer risk via pathways mediating arterial wave reflections which is an increasingly recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at eight MI risk loci were genotyped and correlated with noninvasively determined pulse wave analysis (PWA)-derived central hemodynamic indexes (augmentation index (AIx); augmented pressure (AP); time to reflected wave (TrW) and central systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP)) in two independent Caucasian populations including (i) those free of measured cardiovascular risk factors (n = 133) and (ii) a community-based population (n = 270).

Differences in systemic oxidative stress based on race and the metabolic syndrome: the Morehouse and Emory Team up to Eliminate Health Disparities (META-Health) study.

Background: Classification schema such as metabolic syndrome may underestimate cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in African Americans, despite a higher burden of CVD in African Americans. Oxidative stress results from an imbalance of prooxidants and antioxidants and leads to endothelial dysfunction that promotes vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. Aminothiol markers of oxidative stress are associated with CVD risk factors and metabolic syndrome; however, little is known about racial differences in levels of oxidative stress.

Differences in weight perception among blacks and whites.

Background: The prevalence of obesity is higher in blacks than whites, especially in black women, and is known to be associated with major cardiovascular disease risk factors, which are also more prevalent in blacks than whites. Weight perception may contribute to these differences if blacks are more likely to underestimate their weight. We explored race and gender differences in underestimation of weight using body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), after adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors.

Association of adiponectin with left ventricular mass in blacks: the Jackson Heart Study.

Background: Blacks have a higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy than whites. Several population-based studies have reported an inverse association between adiponectin and left ventricular mass (LVM); however, the relationship between adiponectin levels and LVM has yet to be defined in blacks. The Jackson Heart Study cohort provides an opportunity to test the hypothesis that the inverse association between adiponectin and LVM may be modified by risk factors common among blacks.

Association between depression and inflammation--differences by race and sex: the META-Health study.

Objective: To test whether the association between depression and inflammation differs by race and sex. Depressive symptoms have been associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). However, few studies have examined this association in samples including a significant number of African Americans, or examined whether the association differs by race and sex.

Interaction of sleep quality and psychosocial stress on obesity in African Americans: the Cardiovascular Health Epidemiology Study (CHES).

Background: Compared with whites, sleep disturbance and sleep deprivation appear more prevalent in African Americans (AA). Long-term sleep deprivation may increase the risk of obesity through multiple metabolic and endocrine alterations. Previous studies have reported contradictory results on the association between habitual sleep duration and obesity.

High blood pressure trends in children and adolescents in national surveys, 1963 to 2002.

Background: Secular trend data on hypertension in children and adolescents are scarce and inconsistent. In the face of growing obesity, we sought to assess high blood pressure (HBP) secular trends in children and adolescents enrolled in national surveys and to determine whether the HBP trend reversed its course with the rise in obesity.

Methods And Results: National survey data obtained from multistage probability sampling of the US noninstitutionalized population from 1963 to 2002 were examined; 8- to 17-year-old non-Hispanic blacks and whites and Mexican Americans were included.

Race-gender differences in the association of trait anger with subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

This paper examines the association between trait anger and subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis among 14,098 Black or White men and women, aged 48-67 years, in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study cohort, 1990-1992. Trait anger was assessed using the 10-item Spielberger Trait Anger Scale. Carotid atherosclerosis was determined by an averaged measure of the wall intimal-medial thickness (IMT) of the carotid bifurcation and of the internal and common carotids, measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasound.

Trait anger and arterial stiffness: results from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.

The cross-sectional association between trait anger and stiffness of the left common carotid artery was examined in 10,285 black or white men or women, 48-67 years of age, from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study cohort. Trait anger was assessed using the 10-item Spielberger Trait Anger Scale. Arterial stiffness was assessed by pulsatile arterial diameter change (PADC) derived from echo-tracking ultrasound methods; the smaller the PADC, the stiffer the common carotid artery.

Quality care improvement program in a community-based participatory research project: example of Project DIRECT.

A continuous quality care improvement program (CQIP) was built into Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together) to improve providers' patterns of diabetes care and patients' glycemic control. Project DIRECT consisted of a comprehensive program aimed at reducing the burden of diabetes in the vulnerable high-risk African-American population of southeast Raleigh, NC. Forty-seven providers caring for this target population of adult diabetes patients were included in this quasi-experimental study.

Arterial stiffness is greater in African Americans than in whites: evidence from the Forsyth County, North Carolina, ARIC cohort.

Background: Impairment of arterial dilation is thought to occur earlier than arterial wall thickening in the atherosclerotic process. In comparison with whites, African Americans reportedly have a generalized attenuation of their vasodilation mechanisms. We set out to evaluate arterial stiffness and its correlates by ethnicity, hypothesizing that African Americans would have stiffer common carotid arteries (ie, lower arterial distension for a given systolic pressure) than their white counterparts.

Perceived stress following race-based discrimination at work is associated with hypertension in African-Americans. The metro Atlanta heart disease study, 1999-2001.

There is increasing evidence of an association between stress related to job strain and hypertension. However little data exist on stress from racism and race-based discrimination at work (RBDW). The objective of this study was to investigate whether blood pressure (BP) outcomes are positively associated with stressful racism towards African-Americans from non-African-Americans as well as RBDW from other African-Americans.