Study Puts Focus on American Indians' Hypertension

FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Factors linked to race and gender can boost the risk for high blood pressure in American Indians, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data collected from more than 4,500 American Indians from Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota who took part in the Strong Heart Study at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

The overall annual incidence rate of hypertension was 6.4 percent -- 6.7 percent in men and 6.2 percent in women. Prehypertension at the start of the study, albuminuria (high levels of albumin in urine, a sign of kidney problems), diabetes, obesity, waist-hip ratio and percent of body fat were significantly related to the onset of hypertension.

"We found that within this population, there were significant gender differences in which risk factors were more significant predictors of hypertension. Waist-hip ratio was more important for men, while weight gain was more important for women," Dr. Peng Li, of the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said in a prepared statement.

The findings were presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension in New York City.

Li took part in the Strong Heart Study at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center before he joined the department of health. The Strong Heart Study is the largest epidemiological study of American Indians to examine cardiovascular disease and risk factors among that population.

"There is limited information concerning cardiovascular disease and risk factors such as hypertension in this at-risk population," Li noted.

Since the 1980s, cardiovascular disease has been the leading cause of death in American Indians, as well as the general U.S. population. Heart disease death rates vary among tribes. Some have lower and some have higher cardiovascular disease death rates than that of the general U.S. population.