Characteristics of inner-city African-Americans with uncontrolled hypertension.

Hypertension control rates are low in inner-city African-Americans. This article describes the demographic and clinical characteristics of uncontrolled hypertension in this population. During a single outpatient visit, normotensive and hypertensive African-American volunteers (age 18 to 55) completed a questionnaire, and the following measurements were obtained: blood pressure (BP), anthropometric measures, and blood chemistries. Volunteers received a gift for participating. Of the 3,943 volunteers, 52% were hypertensive. Among the hypertensives, 75% were aware of hypertension, and of those aware, 76% were on antihypertensive drug therapy. BP was uncontrolled in 78% of all hypertensives and in 60% of those on drug therapy. Males were two times more likely than females to have uncontrolled hypertension. Compared to participants with controlled hypertension, those with uncontrolled hypertension were younger, had lower body mass index, and were more likely to report smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and less likely to report restricting dietary salt. Lack of hypertension control was primarily related to the lack of antihypertensive drug therapy rather than to inadequate drug therapy. Uncontrolled hypertension was associated with several self-reported aversive health behaviors, including not taking antihypertensive medications. Strategies to improve hypertension control should be directed to patients and to health care providers.

Association of adrenal steroids with hypertension and the metabolic syndrome in blacks.

Blacks have a high prevalence of hypertension and adrenal cortical adenomas/hyperplasia. We evaluated the hypothesis that adrenal steroids are associated with hypertension and the metabolic syndrome in blacks. Ambulatory blood pressures, anthropometric measurements, and measurements of plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, fasting lipids, glucose, and insulin were obtained in 397 subjects (46% hypertensive and 50% female) after discontinuing antihypertensive and lipid-lowering medications. Hypertension was defined as average ambulatory blood pressure >130/85 mm Hg. Late-night and early morning salivary cortisol, 24-hour urine-free cortisol, and cortisone excretion were measured in a consecutive subsample of 97 subjects (40% hypertensive and 52% female). Compared with normotensive subjects, hypertensive subjects had greater waist circumference and unfavorable lipid profiles, were more insulin resistant, and had lower PRA and higher plasma aldosterone and both late-night and early morning salivary cortisol concentrations. Twenty-four-hour urine-free cortisol and cortisone did not differ. Overall, ambulatory blood pressure was positively correlated with plasma aldosterone (r=0.22; P<0.0001) and late-night salivary cortisol (r=0.23; P=0.03) and inversely correlated with PRA (r=-0.21; P<0.001). Plasma aldosterone correlated significantly with waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and the insulin-resistance index. Based on Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, 17% of all of the subjects were classified as having the metabolic syndrome. Plasma aldosterone levels, but not PRA, were elevated in subjects with the metabolic syndrome (P=0.0002). The association of aldosterone with blood pressure, waist circumference, and insulin resistance suggests that aldosterone may contribute to obesity-related hypertension in blacks. In addition, we speculate that relatively high aldosterone and low PRA in these hypertensive individuals may reflect a mild variant of primary aldosteronism.

Estrogen-plus-progestin use and mammographic density in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Increased mammographic density reduces the sensitivity of screening mammography, is associated with increased breast cancer risk, and may be hormone related. We assessed the effect of estrogen-plus-progestin therapy on mammographic density. METHODS: In a racially and ethnically diverse ancillary study of the Women's Health Initiative, we examined data from 413 postmenopausal women who had been randomly assigned to receive daily combined conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (i.e., progestin; 2.5 mg) (n = 202) or daily placebo (n = 211). We assessed the effect of estrogen plus progestin on measured mammographic percent density and abnormal findings over a 1-year and 2-year period. All tests of statistical significance were two-sided and were based on F tests or t tests from mixed-effects models. RESULTS: Mean mammographic percent density increased by 6.0% at year 1, compared with baseline, in the estrogen-plus-progestin group but decreased by 0.9% in the placebo group (difference = 6.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.3% to 8.5%; P < .001). The mean changes in mammographic density persisted but were attenuated slightly after 2 years, with an absolute increase of 4.9% in the estrogen-plus-progestin group and a decrease of 0.8% in the placebo group (difference = 5.7%, 95% CI = 4.3% to 7.3%; P < .001). These effects were consistent across racial/ethnic groups but were higher among women aged 70-79 years in the estrogen-plus-progestin group (mean increase at year 1 = 11.6%) than in the placebo group (mean decrease at year 1 = 0.1%) (difference of the means = 11.7%, 95% CI = 8.2% to 15.4%; P < .001, comparing across age groups). At year 1, women who were adherent to treatment in the estrogen-plus-progestin group had a mean increase in density of 7.7% (95% CI = 5.9% to 9.5%), and women in the placebo group had a mean decrease in density of 1.1% (95% CI = 0.3% to 1.9%). Use of estrogen plus progestin was associated with an increased risk of having an abnormal mammogram at year 1 (relative risk = 3.9, 95% CI = 1.5 to 10.2; P = .003), compared with placebo, that was not explained by an increase in density. CONCLUSIONS: Use of up to 2 years of estrogen plus progestin was associated with increases in mammographic density.

Tissue plasminogen activator antigen and D-dimer as markers for atherothrombotic risk among healthy postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Plasma markers of fibrinolytic function are associated with incident coronary events among several, but not all, prospective epidemiologic investigations of healthy individuals. Few studies have evaluated this relationship in women. In addition, although menopausal hormone therapy (HT) may alter markers of fibrinolytic function, the relevance of this effect for coronary risk assessment has not been studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a prospective, nested case-control study among 75 343 postmenopausal women without prior cardiovascular disease or cancer, we evaluated the relationships of elevated tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen and D-dimer with subsequent first coronary heart disease events over a median period of 2.9 years. Baseline levels of both biomarkers were higher among 304 cases compared with 304 controls matched on age, smoking status, ethnicity, and length of follow-up; median values were 9.0 versus 7.4 ng/mL (P<0.001) for tPA antigen and 27.6 versus 23.4 ng/mL (P=0.001) for D-dimer. In matched-pairs analyses, the odds ratio in the highest versus lowest quartile of tPA antigen was 3.5 (95% CI, 2.1 to 5.8; P trend <0.001) and for D-dimer was 2.0 (95% CI, 1.2 to 3.2; P trend=0.005). After adjustment for lipid and nonlipid risk factors, including C-reactive protein, tPA antigen remained a significant predictor. Multivariable-adjusted associations for D-dimer, although attenuated, largely remained statistically significant. When stratified by HT, the relationship between tPA antigen and incident coronary heart disease was similar among nonusers, estrogen-only users, and current users of any HT. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated tPA antigen and, to a lesser extent, D-dimer are independently associated with incident coronary events among postmenopausal women. In analyses stratified by HT, tPA antigen remained a consistent marker of increased coronary risk.

Effects of estrogen plus progestin on health-related quality of life.

BACKGROUND: The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and other clinical trials indicate that significant health risks are associated with combination hormone use. Less is known about the effect of hormone therapy on health-related quality of life. METHODS: The WHI randomly assigned 16,608 postmenopausal women 50 to 79 years of age (mean, 63) with an intact uterus at base line to estrogen plus progestin (0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogen plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate, in 8506 women) or placebo (in 8102 women). Quality-of-life measures were collected at base line and at one year in all women and at three years in a subgroup of 1511 women. RESULTS: Randomization to estrogen plus progestin resulted in no significant effects on general health, vitality, mental health, depressive symptoms, or sexual satisfaction. The use of estrogen plus progestin was associated with a statistically significant but small and not clinically meaningful benefit in terms of sleep disturbance, physical functioning, and bodily pain after one year (the mean benefit in terms of sleep disturbance was 0.4 point on a 20-point scale, in terms of physical functioning 0.8 point on a 100-point scale, and in terms of pain 1.9 points on a 100-point scale). At three years, there were no significant benefits in terms of any quality-of-life outcomes. Among women 50 to 54 years of age with moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms at base line, estrogen and progestin improved vasomotor symptoms and resulted in a small benefit in terms of sleep disturbance but no benefit in terms of the other quality-of-life outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In this trial in postmenopausal women, estrogen plus progestin did not have a clinically meaningful effect on health-related quality of life.