American journal of hypertension
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Multicenter Study
Association of cardiovascular risk factors with microvascular and conduit artery function in hypertensive subjects.
Alterations in microvascular and conduit artery function contribute to target organ damage in hypertension. We investigated the association of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors with microvascular and conduit artery function in hypertensive subjects. ⋯ In asymptomatic subjects with essential hypertension, select CV risk factors were associated with microvascular and conduit artery function. Furthermore, the association of CV risk factors with conduit artery function appeared to be independent of downstream microvascular function.
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Although the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in the general population, it is not clear whether its existence is independently associated with CVD in hypertensives. We investigated the presence of MetS in subjects with hypertension and its impact on the incidence of CVD. ⋯ The MetS is a significant predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The clustering of three or more components of the syndrome in addition to hypertension recognizes a population of even higher cardiovascular risk independently of other traditional risk factors.
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Hypertension varies in prevalence among race/ethnic groups in the United States. Within-ethnic group differences associated with acculturation have been less frequently examined. We studied the association of three measures of acculturation (language spoken at home, place of birth, and years living in the US) with hypertension in a population sample of 2619 white, 1898 African American, 1,494 Hispanic, and 803 Chinese participants in the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. ⋯ Acculturation and place of birth are associated with hypertension in a multiethnic sample.
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Comparative Study
Health insurance status and hypertension monitoring and control in the United States.
In this study, we examined whether insurance status (private, Medicare, Medicaid, no insurance) was associated with the odds of blood pressure (BP) monitoring and control. ⋯ Lack of insurance is associated with lower rates of BP control among treated hypertensives, whereas the odds of elevated BP are similar among untreated hypertensives with different insurance status. Variation in BP control between the uninsured and privately insured with hypertension is likely related to differences in appropriate treatment intensification or adherence, rather than differences in rates of treatment initiation.