March 3, 2023 – Black women ages 20 to 50 are twice as more likely to have uncontrolled hypertension as white women, in line with recent data from the American Heart Association.
It's a very dangerous time in life to have blood pressure problems because they increase the chance of probably fatal pregnancy complications. One of the perfect ways to regulate blood pressure – through dietary changes and healthy eating – shouldn’t be available to all black women, 25% of whom struggle to eat healthy.
“Food insecurity is important when thinking about hypertension because sodium content is higher in many cheaper foods such as canned foods, highly processed foods, and fast foods,” said study writer Lara C. Kovell, MD, in a opinion“In addition, other studies have shown that food insecurity and lack of access to healthy foods increase the risk of high blood pressure.”
Published this week in Journal of the American Heart AssociationThe evaluation was conducted using data from 1,293 women between the ages of 20 and 50 who had hypertension or were taking medication for hypertension. In the study, hypertension was defined as 140/90 mmHg or higher. (Normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg or lower.) The average age of the ladies within the study was 36 years, and 80% of the ladies had previously been pregnant.
The study specifically checked out women of childbearing age to raised understand why blood pressure-related health risks while pregnant vary by race or ethnicity. These risks had been identified in previous research. The authors called hypertension “one of the most important and modifiable risk factors for pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality, other than lifetime cardiovascular disease.”
The results showed that 38% of black women within the study had uncontrolled hypertension, which was significantly higher than the 25% of white women within the study who had uncontrolled hypertension. The results are consistent with previous research showing that black women face increased health risks while pregnant. They are at the very least six times more more likely to die in the event that they develop pregnancy-related hypertension similar to preeclampsia than white women.
The researchers also examined whether the likelihood of getting uncontrolled hypertension amongst study participants was related to other aspects, similar to education level, income, food security, home ownership, language, and access to medical insurance and medical care.
“Our results suggest that aspects not examined on this evaluation, similar to experienced racism, social support or stress, may result in inequalities in [blood pressure] Control,” they wrote. Factors such as education levels and health insurance “don’t explain racial inequality in maternal outcomes, and addressing structural racism is essential to realize health equity.”