ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240049
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The New York Times
The risk of high blood pressure among blacks appears to be affected by experiences with racial discrimination and whether people challenge unfair treatment, researchers said Wednesday.
The researchers, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute of Oakland, Calif., said a study of more than 4,000 men and women indicates that racial discrimination and reactions to it make a substantial contribution to the differences in blood pressure between blacks and whites.
In general, black professionals who are conscious of instances of discrimination and who challenge unjust or unequal treatment appear to be at lower risk of elevated blood pressure than black working-class men and women who may be less aware of discriminatory acts and less likely to challenge them, the researchers said.
The scientists said their study, published in the October issue of The American Journal of Public Health, was the first to examine the relationship between higher blood pressure and experiences with racial discrimination as they relate to the social class and gender of blacks.
Blacks suffer from high blood pressure, or hypertension, at about twice the rate of whites. Several smaller studies have linked stress and the reaction to racism as an apparent added risk factor of hypertension, along with other environmental reasons like diet, excess salt intake, lack of exercise and being overweight.
Blacks also have a genetic predisposition to the condition, which can lead to stroke, heart disease, organ damage and other problems.
Dr. Nancy Krieger of Harvard, the principal researcher for the study, said scientists examining health issues typically treat race as only a biological attribute and do not examine the health consequences of racial experiences and reactions.
``These results, which are preliminary, say that race and discrimination have a bearing on blood pressure,'' she said in an interview. ``Now we have to find out what it is.''
The study involved 831 black men, 1,143 black women, 1,006 white men and 1,106 white women aged 25 to 37 years old. In this relatively young group, part of a larger heart disease study, few had developed overt, treatable high blood pressure.
Generally, the study found that working class blacks who reported experiencing two or more discriminatory instances - when looking for a job or housing, for example - had higher normal blood pressure than their white counterparts or professional blacks.
The report speculated that the greater social and economic resources of black professionals might contribute to a willingness to point out discrimination and challenge it.
Among working-class participants, the study suggested, higher blood pressure may be attributable to suppressed or internalized responses to racial discrimination.
The study noted, however, that the data were not uniform for every group of blacks. For example, groups of black men who reported that they had not experienced racial discrimination in the situations outlined in the study differed from the general trend. Working class black men reporting no discrimination, and who said they accepted unfair treatment unrelated to race, had higher blood pressure than working class black men who challenged unfair treatment and had experienced one or two instances of discrimination.
In addition, professional black men who said they had not been discriminated against, but who said they typically challenged any unfair situations, had blood pressure levels at or below levels seen in white professionals, the study said.
Krieger said these seemingly atypical results could not be easily explained. Some research suggests, she said, that some people who have experienced discrimination find it hard to admit, even to themselves.
A study conducted in England among blacks, she said, found that individuals who initially reported no experience with racial discrimination acknowledged the experiences when asked more probing questions.
``We can't answer all of the questions with this study, but what we can say is that racial prejudice and discrimination does affect the blood pressure of blacks in different ways and should be studied in more detail,'' Krieger said.
Dr. Michael J. Klag, a hypertension expert at Johns Hopkins University Medical School who did an earlier study, said the new study was important.
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