Comparing Caucasian and African American cardiovascular disease expression: What does epidemiologic research tell us?

This review describes important aspects of racial disparities in cardiovascular disease. The comparisons of this report are confined to the African American and Caucasian subgroups of the US population and to acknowledged contributors to the epidemic of coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. This review emphasizes epidemiologic studies of cardiovascular disease, which have included noninvasive assessments intended to promote better understanding of the early asymptomatic signs in the pathologic cascade that lead to these cardiovascular events. This summary presents evidence of disparities in commonly accepted subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease to include carotid thickening and distensibility, electrocardiogram abnormalities, peripheral vascular disease, and coronary calcification. This review also summarizes the status of disparities in cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke.