• A study found that symptoms or causes of heart failure differ among black American and white patients. For example, black American heart failure patients tended to have high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), whereas whites had coronary artery disease. Despite these clinical differences, researchers found no significant disparity in survival between black American and white heart failure patients.

  • In another recent study, a research team compared the effectiveness of electrophysiology therapy, antiarrhythmic drugs or implantable defibrillator (ICD) in black American and white patients having arrhythmia. In evaluating how well the drugs performed in correcting the abnormal heart rhythm, black American patients responded better to the antiarrhythmics than did white patients. An ICD was offered to all patients who did not respond to antiarrhythmics. It was noted that 7 percent of the white patients refused an ICD, and 20 percent of the black American patients refused. The researchers could only speculate on causes for the high rate of refusal (e.g., cultural, educational, religious factors).

  • The disparity in survival between white and black American heart failure patients is largely a reflection of access to health care, according to another study. Records of more than 29,000 hospitalized Medicare heart failure patients between 1998 and 1999 were analyzed. It was shown that not only did black American patients receive the same therapy (ACE inhibitors) as white patients, but the death rate among black Americans after one month and one year was lower than for white patients.

    The International Society on Hypertension in Blacks notes that less than 25 percent of hypertensive black Americans have their blood pressure under control. Moreover, high blood pressure (140/90) in black Americans is a problem at younger ages, as compared to white Americans. The society recommends antihypertensive medication as soon as blood pressure is 130/80; this is recently designated as “prehypertension.” This should be combined with exercise, low-salt diet, and smoking cessation with the goal of maintaining blood pressure at 120/80.

  • According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), African American adults 35 years of age and older who live in some Southern states (North and South Carolina, and parts of Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee) have had a higher risk of death from stroke than anyone else in the country. This may reflect, researchers believe, inadequate information on stroke prevention provided to certain communities, as well as less access to healthcare.