New Issue: Orbital Catastrophe Ahead? Read Now

The Puzzle of Hypertension in African-Americans

Genes are often invoked to account for why high blood pressure is so common among African-Americans. Yet the rates are low in Africans. This discrepancy demonstrates how genes and the environment interact

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

00

FAMILIAL AGGREGATION AND GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BLOOD PRESSURE. Ryk Ward in Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. Edited by J. H. Laragh and B. M. Brenner. Raven Press, 1990

MOLECULAR BASIS OF HUMAN HYPERTENSION: ROLE OF ANGIOTENSINOGEN X. Jeunemaitre, F. Soubrier, Y. V. Kotelevtsev, R. P. Lifton, C. S. Williams, A. Charu et al. inCell, Vol. 71, No. 1, pages 169-180; October 1992

THE SLAVERY HYPOTHESIS FOR HYPERTENSION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS: THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. Philip D. Curtin in American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 82, No. 12, pages 1681-1686; December 1992

HYPERTENSION IN POPULATIONS OF WEST AFRICAN ORIGIN: IS THERE A GENETIC PREDISPOSITION? Richard S. Cooper and Charles N. Rotimi in Journal of Hypertension, Vol. 12, No. 3, pages 215-227; March 1994

FAMILIAL AGGREGATION AND GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BLOOD PRESSURE. Ryk Ward in Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. Edited by J. H. Laragh and B. M. Brenner. Raven Press, 1990

THE SLAVERY HYPOTHESIS FOR HYPERTENSION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS: THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. Philip D. Curtin in American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 82, No. 12, pages 1681-1686; December 1992

HYPERTENSION IN POPULATIONS OF WEST AFRICAN ORIGIN: IS THERE A GENETIC PREDISPOSITION? Richard S. Cooper and Charles N. Rotimi in Journal of Hypertension, Vol. 12, No. 3, pages 215-227; March 1994

MOLECULAR BASIS OF HUMAN HYPERTENSION: ROLE OF ANGIOTENSINOGEN X. Jeunemaitre, F. Soubrier, Y. V. Kotelevtsev, R. P. Lifton, C. S. Williams, A. Charu et al. inCell, Vol. 71, No. 1, pages 169-180; October 1992

Scientific American Magazine Vol 280 Issue 1This article was published with the title “The Puzzle of Hypertension in African-Americans” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 280 No. 1 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican021999-2Lj1g2mQDklSrC7BIccEcc

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Subscribe