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African-Americans Stroke Risk Factors Less Well-Controlled Than Caucasians: Presented at NASM

By Lynn Haley
Special to DG News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- August 17, 2001 -- African-Americans are not receiving the appropriate risk-factor management afforded to Caucasians when it comes to multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

These findings by researchers from the Neurology Institute of Savannah, in Savannah, Georgia, United States, were presented at the 2001 North American Stroke Meeting held here August 15th-18th.

Researchers say that sub-optimal CVD risk factor management plays a significant role in contributing to the 700,000 or so strokes that occur annually in the U.S. In their study, investigators compared the CVD risk factor status of African-Americans to Caucasian patients who had been referred by their doctors to a stroke secondary prevention programme. This programme is supervised by a physician and case managed by a nurse.

Investigators evaluated the multiple CVD risk factors in 307 consecutive patients, including such things as smoking, diet and exercise, cholesterol and blood pressure. Seventy-seven of the patients were African-Americans and 230 were Caucasian. All had previously suffered a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) or had carotid artery disease. The age difference between the African-American and Caucasians was slight (63 versus 68 years).

Results showed greater risk factors in the African-American group than the Caucasians. They had a higher body mass index (BMI) (difference = 3kg/m2), fasting LDL cholesterol (difference = 19 mg/dL), Lp(a) (difference = 40mg/dL), fasting glucose (difference = 16 mg/d/L), and homocysteine (difference = 3.9 mmol/L) levels. They were more likely to smoke cigarettes (15.6 v 13.9 percent), and tended to be more sedentary (74 versus 68.3 percent).

Statistically, researchers say they observed no significant differences in the levels of HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure.

As a result of their findings, the investigators concluded that the management of multiple CVD risk factors are less well controlled in African-American stroke patients than in Caucasians referred to a stroke secondary prevention programme.

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