Black people 'more prone to strokes'

Black people are more likely to suffer from a stroke

Black people are more likely to suffer from strokes than the general population, scientists have found.

The incidence rate of strokes is almost twice as high in black people than in white people, say researchers from Guy's, King's College and St Thomas's School of Medicine in London. Black people were also more likely to suffer a stroke at an earlier age.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Judith Stewart and colleagues report the findings of their study of 234,533 people in south London.

A total of 612 strokes had been registered among those people studied.

Overall, the researchers found a rate of 1.3 strokes per 1,000 people each year.

Among the white population the rate was 1.25 per 1,000 people per year, but the rate for black people was 2.21 per 1,000 people per year.

The authors found that this phenomenon was not explained by factors such as social class, age or sex, although there was an increased incidence of strokes in both black and white people in lower socio-economic groups.

They conclude that ethnic differences in genetic and physiological make-up need to be investigated further.

Studies have shown that there is a higher prevlance of hypertension and diabetes among black people, and that they may also be genetically predisposed to hypertension.

Belinda Linden, nurse advisor to the British Heart Foundation, said: "We know there is a greater risk of stroke in the ethnic groups, particularly among Afro-Caribbeans.

"This may be due to either a genetic component of the way in which salt is metabolised, as blacks are more susceptible to kidney problems."