ABSTRACT
An hypothesis is proposed that there exists a subgroup of African-American hypertensive patients whose hypertension could have been prevented by the early detection and treatment of easily recognizable symptoms that signal the initiation of the pathophysiologic processes that lead to essential hypertension.A pilot study of 31 patients with elevated blood pressure revealed that 41.9 percent had isolated sleep paralysis, 35.5 percent had panic attacks, and 9.7 percent had panic disorder. These proposed hyperadrenergic phenomena may be related to the development of hypertension in certain individuals.
Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/complications , Hypertension/etiology , Sleep Wake Disorders/complications , Adult , Black People , Female , Humans , Hypertension/ethnology , Male , Middle Aged , PanicABSTRACT
Recent reports indicate that violence toward others is a major public health problem in the black community; however, there are few empirical studies that delineate the severity of the problem. The authors have compiled the results of a victimization screening form obtained from a poor outpatient medical population. These results are compared with a similar survey performed on a poor outpatient psychiatric population. Recommendations are made that poor medical populations should be screened for histories of victimization, because early identification of patients at risk may reduce their chances of future victimization.