Harvard Study Finds Lower Education, Not Genetics, Explains Higher Rates of Hypertension Among Blacks
Filed in Research & Studies on June 22, 2012
Amy Non, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at Harvard University has concluded a study which finds no genetic basis for higher rates of hypertension among Black Americans. The study, which examined data from 3,700 adults, did find a relationship between lower levels of education and high blood pressure. Non’s data found that blood pressure was significantly lower for Black Americans who had four years of additional education. Higher levels of education can result in more knowledge on leading a healthy lifestyle, better jobs opportunities, better medical screening and care, and greater opportunities for exercise and healthy recreation.
The study will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
