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What is High Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure normally rises and falls. When the blood pressure is elevated over time, it is called high blood pressure. Any person can develop hypertension, which is the technical term for high blood pressure. Blood pressure measures the force of the blood flowing through your blood vessels when the heart contracts to pump blood and when the heart rests between beats. In people with hypertension, the tension within the blood vessels is greater, which makes the heart work harder.
Hypertension has been called the "silent killer" because it can cause damage to many body organs without any symptoms. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, vision problems and even death.
Statistics
African Americans, and people of African descent in the United Kingdom, have among the highest rates of hypertension of any race or ethnic type in the world.
• 35% of African Americans have hypertension, which accounts for 20% of the African American deaths in the United States - twice the percentage of deaths among whites from hypertension.
• Compared with whites, hypertension develops earlier in life and average blood pressures are much higher in African Americans.
• African Americans with high blood pressure have an 80% higher chance of dying from a stroke than in the general population.
• African Americans with high blood pressure have a 20% higher chance of developing heart disease than in the general population.
• African Americans with high blood pressure have a 4 times greater risk of developing hypertension related end stage kidney disease than the general population.
Showing posts with label kidney failure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kidney failure. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Why Blacks Do Not Successfully Donate Kidneys
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Medical News Today
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine explored why blacks are less likely than other races
to become living kidney donors, and the reasons are obesity and failure to complete the donor evaluation.
"Obesity is a growing problem in the African-American community, particularly among women, and this reflects what we found in the study," said Amber Reeves-Daniel,
D.O., an instructor in internal medicine-nephrology. "The other issue is the social reasons for non-donation, including failure to complete the donor evaluation
process. This issue is just not well understood."
Reeves-Daniel reported the results at the 2007 American Transplant Congress in San Francisco.
Donor questionnaires and charts for 541 disqualified potential donors were reviewed. The disqualified donors were all identified by documented information
- race, gender and cause of donor exclusion. In some cases, disqualified donors had more than one reason for exclusion.
About 30 percent of blacks were excluded because of obesity, compared to 16.6 percent of whites. Obesity was defined by body mass index (BMI) greater than
or equal to 32 kg/m². Twelve percent of blacks were excluded because they didn't complete the evaluation process, compared to 1.8 percent of whites. For
whites, the biggest reason for exclusion was kidney stones, at 7.3 percent, compared to 1.5 percent in blacks.
"Further study of these differences may improve our understanding of the causes of low rates of living kidney donation among African-Americans, particularly
regarding the social reasons," said Reeves-Daniel. "Is it lack of trust in the medical community, financial inability to get to doctor's appointments for
tests, concerns with work and child care, or perhaps some other issue?"
The researchers also examined reasons for non-donation between men and women. They found that more women than men did not donate because of reduced renal
function, at 7.9 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Also, more women (6.4 percent) than men (1.8 percent) were excluded due to not completing the process.
"I did find this kind of surprising because more women successfully donate than men, at a rate of 58 percent versus 42 percent," said Reeves-Daniel.
"We hope all of these results will help with understanding so we can recruit successful donors in the future."
###
This article caught my attention simply because my cousin, who is in her 40's needed a kidney transplant a few years ago. Sadly, most of everyone in the family, including myself, could not donate a kidney because of our challenged health. That incident caused me to notice how almost everyone in our family was obese and suffering from hypertension and/or diabetes. In the time that we needed to help my cousin live, we couldn't. And the reality was that we couldn't help her because we also were slowly dying.
So, let's take care of ourselves so that we can live a long life, and help our loved ones live a long life as well.
Angela L. Braden
African American Health Network's Blog Administrator
Medical News Today
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine explored why blacks are less likely than other races
to become living kidney donors, and the reasons are obesity and failure to complete the donor evaluation.
"Obesity is a growing problem in the African-American community, particularly among women, and this reflects what we found in the study," said Amber Reeves-Daniel,
D.O., an instructor in internal medicine-nephrology. "The other issue is the social reasons for non-donation, including failure to complete the donor evaluation
process. This issue is just not well understood."
Reeves-Daniel reported the results at the 2007 American Transplant Congress in San Francisco.
Donor questionnaires and charts for 541 disqualified potential donors were reviewed. The disqualified donors were all identified by documented information
- race, gender and cause of donor exclusion. In some cases, disqualified donors had more than one reason for exclusion.
About 30 percent of blacks were excluded because of obesity, compared to 16.6 percent of whites. Obesity was defined by body mass index (BMI) greater than
or equal to 32 kg/m². Twelve percent of blacks were excluded because they didn't complete the evaluation process, compared to 1.8 percent of whites. For
whites, the biggest reason for exclusion was kidney stones, at 7.3 percent, compared to 1.5 percent in blacks.
"Further study of these differences may improve our understanding of the causes of low rates of living kidney donation among African-Americans, particularly
regarding the social reasons," said Reeves-Daniel. "Is it lack of trust in the medical community, financial inability to get to doctor's appointments for
tests, concerns with work and child care, or perhaps some other issue?"
The researchers also examined reasons for non-donation between men and women. They found that more women than men did not donate because of reduced renal
function, at 7.9 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Also, more women (6.4 percent) than men (1.8 percent) were excluded due to not completing the process.
"I did find this kind of surprising because more women successfully donate than men, at a rate of 58 percent versus 42 percent," said Reeves-Daniel.
"We hope all of these results will help with understanding so we can recruit successful donors in the future."
###
This article caught my attention simply because my cousin, who is in her 40's needed a kidney transplant a few years ago. Sadly, most of everyone in the family, including myself, could not donate a kidney because of our challenged health. That incident caused me to notice how almost everyone in our family was obese and suffering from hypertension and/or diabetes. In the time that we needed to help my cousin live, we couldn't. And the reality was that we couldn't help her because we also were slowly dying.
So, let's take care of ourselves so that we can live a long life, and help our loved ones live a long life as well.
Angela L. Braden
African American Health Network's Blog Administrator
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Diabetes Statistics for African Americans
HAT TIP:
American Diabetes Association
Approximately 2.7 million or 11.4% of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes. However, one-third of them do not know it.
The most life-threatening consequences of diabetes are heart disease and stroke, which strike people with diabetes more than twice as often as they do others.
Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates 2 to 4 times higher than those without diabetes. African Americans with diabetes are at increased risk
for heart disease, stroke and other macrovascular complications. Other complications of diabetes include blindness, kidney disease, and amputations.
Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no cure. The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be
$132 billion, or one out of every 10 health care dollars spent in the United States.
Prevalence
List of 3 items
• African Americans are 1.6 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Latino whites.
• 25% of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.
• One in four African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.
African Americans and diabetes-related complications
African Americans experience higher rates of at least four serious complications of diabetes: cardiovascular disease, blindness, amputation and end stage
renal disease (kidney failure).
List of 4 items
• Heart disease strikes people with diabetes more than twice as often as it strikes people without diabetes. People with diabetes are five times more likely
to suffer strokes and once having had a stroke, are two to four times as likely to have a recurrence. Deaths from heart disease in women with diabetes
have increased 23% over the past 30 years compared to a 27% decrease in women without diabetes. Deaths from heart disease in men with diabetes have decreased
by only 13% compared to a 36% decrease in men without diabetes.
• Diabetic retinopathyis a term used for all abnormalities of the small blood vessels of the retina caused by diabetes, such as weakening of blood vessel
walls or leakage from blood vessels. African Americans are twice as likely to suffer from diabetes-related blindness.
• Diabetes is the most frequent cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations. The risk of a leg amputation is 15 to 40 times greater for a person with
diabetes. More than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations in the U.S. occur among people with diabetes. Each year, 82,000 people lose their foot or
leg to diabetes. Among people with diabetes, African Americans are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to suffer from lower limb amputations.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 43% of new cases. Ten to 21% of all people with diabetes develop kidney disease. In 2000,
41,046 people with diabetes initiated treatment for kidney failure, and 129,183 people with diabetes underwent dialysis or kidney transplantation. African
Americans with diabetes are 2.6 to 5.6 times more likely to suffer from kidney disease.
list end
American Diabetes Association
Approximately 2.7 million or 11.4% of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes. However, one-third of them do not know it.
The most life-threatening consequences of diabetes are heart disease and stroke, which strike people with diabetes more than twice as often as they do others.
Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates 2 to 4 times higher than those without diabetes. African Americans with diabetes are at increased risk
for heart disease, stroke and other macrovascular complications. Other complications of diabetes include blindness, kidney disease, and amputations.
Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no cure. The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be
$132 billion, or one out of every 10 health care dollars spent in the United States.
Prevalence
List of 3 items
• African Americans are 1.6 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Latino whites.
• 25% of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.
• One in four African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.
African Americans and diabetes-related complications
African Americans experience higher rates of at least four serious complications of diabetes: cardiovascular disease, blindness, amputation and end stage
renal disease (kidney failure).
List of 4 items
• Heart disease strikes people with diabetes more than twice as often as it strikes people without diabetes. People with diabetes are five times more likely
to suffer strokes and once having had a stroke, are two to four times as likely to have a recurrence. Deaths from heart disease in women with diabetes
have increased 23% over the past 30 years compared to a 27% decrease in women without diabetes. Deaths from heart disease in men with diabetes have decreased
by only 13% compared to a 36% decrease in men without diabetes.
• Diabetic retinopathyis a term used for all abnormalities of the small blood vessels of the retina caused by diabetes, such as weakening of blood vessel
walls or leakage from blood vessels. African Americans are twice as likely to suffer from diabetes-related blindness.
• Diabetes is the most frequent cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations. The risk of a leg amputation is 15 to 40 times greater for a person with
diabetes. More than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations in the U.S. occur among people with diabetes. Each year, 82,000 people lose their foot or
leg to diabetes. Among people with diabetes, African Americans are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to suffer from lower limb amputations.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 43% of new cases. Ten to 21% of all people with diabetes develop kidney disease. In 2000,
41,046 people with diabetes initiated treatment for kidney failure, and 129,183 people with diabetes underwent dialysis or kidney transplantation. African
Americans with diabetes are 2.6 to 5.6 times more likely to suffer from kidney disease.
list end
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