Black Men Most Likely Kidney Disease Patients To Have Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure, Study Finds

Main Category: Hypertension
Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Black men with kidney disease and high blood pressure are more likely than others to not have their blood pressure under control, which could worsen their kidney disease, according to a study in the current issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report reports. In addition, both black men and women in the later stages of kidney disease were less likely than white men and women to have controlled blood pressure. O. Kenrik Duru of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles and colleagues looked at more than 10,000 people with kidney disease and hypertension for the study.

According to HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report, some experts believe that controlling high blood pressure could slow the progression of kidney disease. Previous research has shown that blacks with kidney disease progress to kidney failure five times faster than whites.

In a statement, Duru said, "African-Americans with (kidney disease) progress more quickly to kidney failure, at which point they must receive a kidney transplant or regular dialysis to survive," adding, "These findings suggest that their higher risk of kidney failure may stem, at least in part, from higher rates of uncontrolled high blood pressure."

Allan Collins, president of the National Kidney Foundation, said in a statement, "These findings propose new opportunities to eliminate health disparities in people most vulnerable to (kidney disease). Treating high blood pressure aggressively in people with (kidney disease) could protect thousands -- if not millions -- of people from life-threatening complications of kidney failure" (HealthDay News/ U.S. News & World Report, 2/4).

An abstract of the study is available online.

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