UAB Study Investigates Racial Disparities in Stroke Patients

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health say a 10-mm difference in blood pressure is associated with an eight percent increase in stroke risk for white people, but a 24 percent increase in stroke risk for black people.

UAB School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics Professor George Howard, DrPH, said these new findings — which recently appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine — mean primary care physicians should work closely with their black patients and urge them to take blood pressure medicine, as well as follow up with them to ensure those medications are effective in bringing blood pressure under control. For more information, click here to read the full release.