What does the Jackson Heart Study tell us about heart failure risk in Black men?

The Jackson Heart Study is the largest investigation of cardiovascular disease specifically in African Americans ever conducted, based in Jackson, Mississippi. One of its most clinically specific findings: compared to participants with zero to two ideal cardiovascular health metrics, those achieving four or more ideal metrics had a 61% lower risk of heart failure. This dose-response relationship, more cardiovascular health factors managed, substantially lower heart failure risk, provides a direct framework for prevention that is derived entirely from a Black population, not from extrapolation from predominantly white cohort data.

The seven cardiovascular health metrics used: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, smoking status, body mass index, diet quality, and physical activity. These are accessible to any man, require no exotic testing, and, importantly, were shown in a Black population to have the same dose-response protective relationship that Framingham data showed in white populations. The Jackson Heart Study removes the "but does the data apply to me?" question that dogs the use of white-dominant cardiovascular trials in Black patients. This data is your data. (Jackson Heart Study, PubMed, 2017)

Cardiologist's calibrated position, Solid (1) for the 61% heart failure risk reduction finding from a study designed for and conducted entirely in Black Americans.

What to do: Count your ideal cardiovascular health metrics currently. If you have fewer than four of the seven at right levels, the gap is where your prevention effort belongs.

For the full picture, read The Cardiac Inheritance.