Condition Can be More Devastating for Young Urban
Black Men
Its estimated that one in four American adults has high blood pressure,
yet nearly one-third with the condition don’t know they have it. High blood
pressure, which can lead to heart disease and stroke, has no symptoms.
In the at-risk group of young urban black men, the effects of high blood
pressure can be more devastating as it tends to occur at a younger age
and be more severe.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing and Nebraska
Health System will present its 10th visiting nurse scholar visit Oct. 9
and 10. Martha Hill, Ph.D., professor at the Johns Hopkins University School
of Nursing in Baltimore, M.D., and an expert in hypertension and its implications
for other diseases, will be the visiting scholar.
Dr. Hill, director of the Center for Nursing Research at Johns Hopkins,
and also holds faculty appointments in the School of Medicine and School
of Hygiene. She was the first woman and first nurse to serve as president
of the American Heart Association.
The purpose of the visiting scholar program is to highlight the research
work of a nurse who has had an impact on the health of society and on public
policy. Dr. Hill will share her expertise on identifying and managing hypertension
in young urban black men. This population group has the highest rates of
early, severe and complicated high blood pressure, yet the lowest rates
of awareness, treatment and control, Dr. Hill said.
During her visit, Dr. Hill will present lectures and meet with UNMC
faculty and students, health professionals and community members.
Barriers to care for and control of heart disease — especially when
it comes to high blood pressure — are well recognized, Dr. Hill said.
It is necessary to understand and address these barriers in order to ultimately
reduce the racial and ethnic disparities in high blood pressure care and
control.
Dr. Hills research indicates barriers as: lack of knowledge about the
seriousness of untreated high blood pressure; lack of health insurance;
lack of a physician or a valued patient-provider relationship; and the
high cost and complexity of treatment.
Blood pressure can be controlled in most people with comprehensive,
continuous and culturally relevant health care, as well as compliance with
health providers recommendations, she said.
High blood pressure causes the heart to work harder, which increases
the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, damage to the eyes,
congestive heart failure and atherosclerosis hardening of the arteries.
The risk for heart attack or stroke increases with obesity, smoking, high
blood cholesterol and diabetes.
Dr. Hill has published more than 100 papers and 34 abstracts, and contributed
to 15 books. She has served on numerous panels and boards, including the
World Health Organizations Patient Education Program. She currently is
working on three research projects funded by the National Institutes of
Health to improve care and control of hypertension and diabetes in urban
blacks.
In 1998, she was elected to the Institute of Medicine, and was named
one of 10 Readers Digest 1999 Womens Health Heroes. She serves on numerous
review panels, editorial boards and advisory committees, including the
board of directors of the American Society of Hypertension and the International
Society of Hypertension in Blacks. Dr. Hill also consults on hypertension
in several foreign countries, including Scotland, Israel, Australia and
South Africa.
She received her bachelors degree in nursing from Johns Hopkins, her
masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her doctorate degree
from Johns Hopkins. Before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty, Dr. Hill
was coordinator of research in the Division of Hypertension and Pharmacology
and the director of the Hypertension Outreach Program at the University
of Pennsylvania hospital.