BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Studies performed in the United States showed that blacks progress from CKD to ESRD faster than do whites. Possible explanations are differences in health care system factors. This study investigated whether progression is also faster in a universal health care system, where all patients receive comparable care. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Data from...

PURPOSE We compared the nutrient profiles of hypertensive Korean-Americans, non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks with those of normotensive Korean-Americans, Whites, and Blacks. METHODS This study was a cross-sectional comparative design of nutrient profiles among three ethnic groups. Korean-Americans were interviewed at Korean-American health clinics and churches in Chicago and data were collected...

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men in the United States, with substantially higher rates among American blacks than whites. We carried out a population-based case-control study in three geographic areas of the United States to evaluate the reasons for the racial disparity in incidence rates. A total of 932 men (449 black men and 483 white men) who had been newly diagnosed with...

Blacks have different dominant polymorphisms in the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) gene that result in higher bioavailable vitamin D than whites. This study tested whether the lack of association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk in blacks and Hispanics is due to differences in these common polymorphisms (rs7041, rs4588). We recruited incident MS cases and co...

W e thank Drs. Kilpatrick and Bloomgarden (1) for their interest in our study. While we agree that the higher mean HbA1c in blacks compared with whites is well established, the collective evidence suggests that risk associations are similar. The goal of our recent study (2) was to compare the prognostic value of HbA1c to fasting glucose for risk of major complications in black and white adults....

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Atherosclerosis of the thoracic aorta is an independent risk factor for stroke. There is little information on the impact of race in the prevalence of thoracic aorta atherosclerotic plaques among ischemic stroke patients. This study was an attempt to objectively assess the prevalence, thickness, and burden of thoracic aorta atherosclerotic plaques in a large population of...

BACKGROUND The mechanism of enhanced vascular reactivity in young blacks, which may play a part in the development of hypertension, has not been defined. To determine the contribution of blunted vasodilatation mediated by beta 2-adrenergic receptors to this phenomenon, we compared forearm blood-flow responses to isoproterenol in young black and white normotensive men. METHODS We used venous-o...

The sympathetic response during the cold pressor test (CPT) has been reported to be greater in young blacks than whites, especially in those with a family history of hypertension. Because blood pressure (BP) increases with age, we evaluated whether elderly blacks have greater sympathetic activation during CPT than age-matched whites. BP, heart rate, cardiac output, and muscle sympathetic nerve ...

BACKGROUND Chronic kidney disease is a risk factor for heart failure, an association that may be particularly important in blacks who are disproportionately affected by both processes. Our objective was to determine whether the association of chronic kidney disease with incident heart failure differs between blacks and whites. METHODS The study population comprised participants in the Health,...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to see whether the association between age and perceived control is the same for Blacks as well as Whites; and (b) to see if education, health, income, social support, cognitive function, and religion account for the relationship between age and control in the same way for Blacks and Whites. METHODS Data for this study come from the first w...