Heart rate and subsequent blood pressure in young adults: the CARDIA study.
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The objective of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that baseline heart rate (HR) predicts subsequent blood pressure (BP) independently of baseline BP. In the multicenter longitudinal Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study of black and white men and women initially aged 18 to 30 years, we studied 4762 participants who were not current users of antihypertensive drugs and had no history of heart problems at the baseline examination (1985-1986). In each race-sex subgroup, we estimated the effect of baseline HR on BP 2, 5, 7, and 10 years later by use of repeated measures regression analysis, adjusting for baseline BP, age, education, body fatness, physical fitness, fasting insulin, parental hypertension, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, and change of body mass index from baseline. The association between baseline HR and subsequent systolic BP (SBP) was explained by multivariable adjustment. However, HR was an independent predictor of subsequent diastolic BP (DBP) regardless of initial BP and other confounders in white men, white women, and black men (0.7 mm Hg increase per 10 bpm). We incorporated the part of the association that was already present at baseline by not adjusting for baseline DBP: the mean increase in subsequent DBP was 1.3 mm Hg per 10 bpm in white men, white women, and black men. A high HR may be considered a risk factor for subsequent high DBP in young persons. (+info)
Obstetric and neonatal outcome following chronic hypertension in pregnancy among different ethnic groups.
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We retrospectively studied pre-eclampsia rate and obstetric outcome in a cohort of 436 pregnancies amongst 318 women of different ethnic backgrounds attending an antenatal hypertension clinic from 1980-1997, identifying 152 women (213 pregnancies) with chronic essential hypertension. The ethnic breakdown was: White, 64 (30.0%) pregnancies in 48 (31.5%) women; Black/Afro-Caribbean, 79 (37.1%) pregnancies in 56 (36.8%) women; and Indo-Asians, 70 (32.3%) pregnancies in 48 (31.6%) women. The prevalences of pre-eclampsia in White, Black and Indo-Asian women were 17.2%, 12.7% and 18.6%, respectively (p = 0.58). Pregnancies of Indo-Asian women were of shorter gestation, and babies in this group also had lower birth weight and ponderal index compared to those of White and Black women (all p < 0.05). The proportions of overall perinatal mortality were 1.6% for Whites (1/64), 3.8% for Blacks (3/79) and 10.0% for Indo-Asians (7/70), suggesting increased risk in the Indo-Asian group. Indo-Asian women with chronic essential hypertension need careful antenatal care and observation during pregnancy. (+info)
Associations of anti-beta2-glycoprotein I autoantibodies with HLA class II alleles in three ethnic groups.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine any HLA associations with anti-beta2-glycoprotein I (anti-beta2GPI) antibodies in a large, retrospectively studied, multiethnic group of 262 patients with primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or another connective tissue disease. METHODS: Anti-beta2GPI antibodies were detected in sera using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HLA class II alleles (DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1) were determined by DNA oligotyping. RESULTS: The HLA-DQB1*0302 (DQ8) allele, typically carried on HLA-DR4 haplotypes, was associated with anti-beta2GPI when compared with both anti-beta2GPI-negative SLE patients and ethnically matched normal controls, especially in Mexican Americans and, to a lesser extent, in whites. Similarly, when ethnic groups were combined, HLA-DQB1*0302, as well as HLA-DQB1*03 alleles overall (DQB1*0301, *0302, and *0303), were strongly correlated with anti-beta2GPI antibodies. The HLA-DR6 (DR13) haplotype DRB1*1302; DQB1*0604/5 was also significantly increased, primarily in blacks. HLA-DR7 was not significantly increased in any of these 3 ethnic groups, and HLA-DR53 (DRB4*0101) was increased in Mexican Americans only. CONCLUSION: Certain HLA class II haplotypes genetically influence the expression of antibodies to beta2GPI, an important autoimmune response in the APS, but there are variations in HLA associations among different ethnic groups. (+info)
Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody in white and black patients with diabetes mellitus.
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The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBSAg) and antibody (anti-HBS) was determined in 531 white and 519 black diabetic outpatients and in appropriate white and black control populations. There was no difference between the prevalence of either HBSAg or anti-HBS in either the white or black diabetics and that in the white and black controls. These findings make it unlikely that the vast majority of patients with diabetes mellitus have either an increased susceptibility to infection by the hepatitis B virus or an impaired ability to clear the virus once they are infected. (+info)
Biochemical indices of osteomalacia in pregnant Asian immigrants in Britain.
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Serum calcium, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase, and urinary calcium excretion were examined during the second trimester of uncomplicated normal pregnancy in Asian immigrants to Britain and in local Caucasians. The mean serum calcium was significantly lower in Asians than in Caucasians, and the mean serum alkaline phosphatase was significantly higher in Asians. The geometric mean of the urinary calcium excretion was highly significantly lower in Asians than in Caucasians. The variances of the serum calcium, serum alkaline phosphatase, and urine calcium excretion did not differ significantly in the two populations. This indicates that there is a shift in values of immigrant Asians as a group compared with Caucasians. A comparison with figures obtained on normal nonpregnant persons of both suggests that the shift is not an inherent feature of the Asian population. (+info)
Racial differences in the outcome of left ventricular dysfunction.
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BACKGROUND: Population-based studies have found that black patients with congestive heart failure have a higher mortality rate than whites with the same condition. This finding has been attributed to differences in the severity, causes, and management of heart failure, the prevalence of coexisting conditions, and socioeconomic factors. Although these factors probably account for some of the higher mortality due to congestive heart failure among blacks, we hypothesized that racial differences in the natural history of left ventricular dysfunction might also have a role. METHODS: Using data from the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) prevention and treatment trials, in which all patients received standardized therapy and follow-up, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of asymptomatic and symptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction among black and white participants. The mean (+/-SD) follow-up was 34.2+/-14.0 months in the prevention trial and 32.3+/-14.8 months in the treatment trial among the black and white participants. RESULTS: The overall mortality rates in the prevention trial were 8.1 per 100 person-years for blacks and 5.1 per 100 person years for whites. In the treatment trial, the rates were 16.7 per 100 person-years and 13.4 per 100 person-years, respectively. After adjustment for age, coexisting conditions, severity and causes of heart failure, and use of medications, blacks had a higher risk of death from all causes in both the SOLVD prevention trial (relative risk, 1.36; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.06 to 1.74; P=0.02) and the treatment trial (relative risk, 1.25; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.04 to 1.50; P=0.02). In both trials blacks were also at higher risk for death due to pump failure and for the combined end point of death from any cause or hospitalization for heart failure, our two predefined indicators of the progression of left ventricular systolic dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Blacks with mild-to-moderate left ventricular systolic dysfunction appear to be at higher risk for progression of heart failure and death from any cause than similarly treated whites. These results suggest that there may be racial differences in the outcome of asymptomatic and symptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction. (+info)
The effect of race and sex on physicians' recommendations for cardiac catheterization.
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BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies have reported differences in the use of cardiovascular procedures according to the race and sex of the patient. Whether the differences stem from differences in the recommendations of physicians remains uncertain. METHODS: We developed a computerized survey instrument to assess physicians' recommendations for managing chest pain. Actors portrayed patients with particular characteristics in scripted interviews about their symptoms. A total of 720 physicians at two national meetings of organizations of primary care physicians participated in the survey. Each physician viewed a recorded interview and was given other data about a hypothetical patient. He or she then made recommendations about that patient's care. We used multivariate logistic-regression analysis to assess the effects of the race and sex of the patients on treatment recommendations, while controlling for the physicians' assessment of the probability of coronary artery disease as well as for the age of the patient, the level of coronary risk, the type of chest pain, and the results of an exercise stress test. RESULTS: The physicians' mean (+/-SD) estimates of the probability of coronary artery disease were lower for women (probability, 64.1+/-19.3 percent, vs. 69.2+/-18.2 percent for men; P<0.001), younger patients (63.8+/-19.5 percent for patients who were 55 years old, vs. 69.5+/-17.9 percent for patients who were 70 years old; P<0.001), and patients with nonanginal pain (58.3+/-19.0 percent, vs. 64.4+/-18.3 percent for patients with possible angina and 77.1+/-14.0 percent for those with definite angina; P=0.001). Logistic-regression analysis indicated that women (odds ratio, 0.60; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.4 to 0.9; P=0.02) and blacks (odds ratio, 0.60; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.4 to 0.9; P=0.02) were less likely to be referred for cardiac catheterization than men and whites, respectively. Analysis of race-sex interactions showed that black women were significantly less likely to be referred for catheterization than white men (odds ratio, 0.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.2 to 0.7; P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the race and sex of a patient independently influence how physicians manage chest pain. (+info)
Genetic polymorphism and interethnic variability of plasma paroxonase activity.
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A method for determining plasma paroxonase activity using an auto-analyser is described. Frequency distributions for British and Indian subjects show bimodality. A study of 40 British families confirms the presence of a genetic polymorphism with regard to plasma paroxonase activity. Two phenotypes can be defined, controlled by two alleles at one autosomal locus. The frequency of the low activity phenotype is less in the Indian population than in the British population. Malay, Chinese, and African subjects fail to show obvious bimodality. (+info)