(HealthDayNews) -- African Americans are disproportionately afflicted with end-stage kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although they constitute approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population, African Americans comprise 32 percent of ESRD cases.
In black people especially, hypertension is a major cause of ESRD. The racial disparity is most striking in younger African Americans, ages 25 to 44, who are 20 times more likely than whites of that age group to develop kidney failure caused by high blood pressure.
Although better management of high blood pressure has led to a decline in the number of people who develop strokes and heart disease, the number of people developing kidney failure has increased.
Since 1990, the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has been investigating the underlying causes of ESRD. It is hoped that, eventually, a specific class of antihypertensive drugs will help slow progression of hypertensive kidney disease in African Americans.
