Blacks hit hardest by blood pressure Series: THE SILENT KILLER (STANDARD)

Blacks suffer high blood pressure with greater frequency andferocity than whites.

They are "five times more likely than whites to have strokescaused by hypertension. The incidence of kidney failure induced byhypertension is 18 times greater in blacks than whites," said Dr.Paul Crawford, a private-practice kidney specialist active inhypertension prevention programs for the Chicago branch of theAmerican Heart Association.

More than 100,000 blacks a year in this country die fromhypertension-related disease, including heart attack, stroke andkidney failure.

Racial differences in blood pressure are not obvious until afteradolescence or early adulthood. By …