Profile of systemic hypertension in black patients.

Hypertension extracts a huge toll from the black community in terms of excess morbidity and mortality. The black hypertensive is more likely to die from the disease and to have stroke, end-stage renal disease or heart failure. Furthermore, contrary to previous beliefs, blacks are at least as likely to have coronary artery disease as whites. Although substantial overlap occurs, the black hypertensive is more likely to be volume-expanded, to have a lower plasma renin level, and to be classified, as salt-sensitive than is the white hypertensive. Decreased dietary potassium and calcium intake, altered intra-cellular handling of sodium and calcium, and psychosocial factors have also been implicated in the pathophysiology of hypertension in blacks.