Research in coronary heart disease in blacks: issues and challenges

Research on coronary heart disease (CHD) has contributed to the decline in cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality during the past three decades. However, life expectancy and rates of illness and death from CHD have not improved for blacks as for whites. Blacks have not experienced the full benefit of research advancements for a variety of reasons, including insufficient scientific data, lack of research focused on minority populations, and limited access to health care resources and technology. In order to address these disparities in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of CHD in blacks, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute converted a Working Group on Research in Coronary Heart Disease in Blacks. In its deliberations, the working group identified 10 priority research areas, which are treatment, epidemiology (data collection and analysis), evaluation of chest pain and diagnosis of CHD, prevention and behavior, risk factors, genetics, vascular biology, left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary microvasculature, and sudden cardiac death.