Study Finds Race Gap for Hispanics with High BP

A research study from ColumbiaUniversity's School of Public Health is thefirst to examine hypertension in differentHispanic racial subgroups. The results ofthe study show that black Hispanics inthe United States have higher rates ofhypertension than white Hispanics.

The study included data on >12,000Hispanic adults. Overall, US Hispanicshave lower rates of high blood pressure(BP) than non-Hispanics (16.8% vs 24.7%).The so-called protective effect of beingHispanic, however, does not carry over toblack Hispanics, as noted by the Columbiaresearchers.

On the whole, blacks had the highestrates of high BP regardless of ethnicity,according to the study. This research isthe first step toward a better understandingof the link between race and health.