PRINCETON, N.J., Mar 18, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Heart failure affects
African-Americans in their 30s and 40s at the same rate as Caucasians in their
50 and 60s, U.S. researchers have found.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found 1 in 100
African-American men and women developed heart failure at an average age of 39
-- 20 times the rate in Caucasians.
Heart failure in African-Americans was associated with risk factors such as
hypertension and obesity that were already present when these adults were in
their 20s.
Heart failure affects the heart's ability to pump blood to the lungs or
oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body and can cause debilitating fatigue,
shortness of breath and, eventually, death.
"These findings should be a wake-up call on the need for African-Americans and
physicians to address risk factors that can lead to heart failure," Dr. Kirsten
Bibbins-Domingo of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the lead author, said in
a statement.
"Heart failure is disproportionately hitting African Americans in the prime of
their lives."
The study found that each 10 millimeter of mercury increase in diastolic blood
pressure -- the bottom number -- among African-Americans in their 20s doubles
the likelihood of developing heart failure when they are in their 40s.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International