Cerebrovascular disease in hypertensive blacks.

There is convincing evidence that all grades of persistent diastolic hypertension, especially in blacks, should be treated in order to prevent stroke and other cardiovascular complications. Studies are now in progress to gather additional information concerning isolated systolic hypertension, especially in the aged. Inasmuch as at least one half or more of stroke deaths in blacks develop as the result of hypertension, lowering blood pressure offers the perfect opportunity to reduce considerably the frequency of this devastating illness. The recent dramatic fall in U.S. stroke mortality, greatest in the black female, is a commendable achievement, but the flattening of the declining mortality curve over the past several years should be a cause for alarm and intensive investigation.