Nephrosclerosis in three cohorts of black and white men born 1925 to 1944, 1934 to 1953, and 1943 to 1962.
The prevailing levels of blood pressure among black and white men of ages 25 to 54 years were examined by two independent approaches in this study. Data on blood pressure obtained in national health surveys (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, NHANES) do not show any appreciable upward or downward trend between 1960 and 1980 in men of these ages. The histologic examination of kidney samples obtained from coroner's autopsies offers an indirect way of estimating the levels of blood pressure that prevail in populations because of statistical relationships between nephrosclerosis and blood pressure. Samples of kidney tissues archived in New Orleans from 1968 to 1986 were evaluated by quantitative morphometry for the severity of the renovasculopathies that accompany high blood pressure. The outcome showed no significant secular trend among black and white men, confirming blood pressure survey findings that show no change in the hypertensive status of the population. The black-white difference in incipient signs of hypertension was seen to be well-established by ages 25 to 34 years in all cohorts of New Orleans subjects, as well as in the NHANES survey data. These result suggest that the adolescent and young adult ages are especially important in establishing the black-white difference in hypertension.
Tracy
R E
RE
Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans 70112.
Guzman
M A
MA
Oalmann
M C
MC
Newman
W P
WP
Strong
J P
JP
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D044383:Black People; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005355:Fibrosis; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009400:Nephrosclerosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012079:Renal Circulation; D044465:White People