Wayne State University

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Wayne State University

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Media Report

June 10, 2012

U.S. News and World Report article references WSU study examining high blood pressure, heart disease in African Americans

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/06/07/9-in-10-blacks-with-high-blood-pressure-have-early-heart-disease

High blood pressure is strongly associated with heart disease in black Americans, new research shows. In the study, published online May 31 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, researchers looked at 161 people who came to a single emergency department. More than 93 percent of the patients were black. None had symptoms or a history of heart disease but 94 percent had a history of high blood pressure, or "hypertension." "These results present a tremendous opportunity to screen for heart disease before it becomes symptomatic, especially in a population with high rates of hypertension," lead author Dr. Phillip Levy, of the department of emergency medicine at Wayne State University, said in a journal news release. "If we can detect incipient [early] heart disease early, we have a better shot at treating it before it turns into a full-blown health emergency.

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