Gene changes linked to high blood pressure

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension cause 13.5 % of deaths around the world. Many people suffer for a long time with this disease. It costs a lot of money for patients and taxpayers. It can also lead to other problems, such as heart attacks and strokes. Black people have higher rates of high blood pressure than do white people. High blood pressure in blacks is often worse and starts at a younger age than in whites. Drugs can help treat high blood pressure, but current drugs are not enough in about half the people. Scientists have found genes that might be involved in how well these drugs work. A change in one of these genes is more common in black people than white people. Scientists think this might explain why the drugs don’t work as well in some black people. This project is going to look at people with high blood pressure that is not controlled well by drugs. They will use BioVU to find genes that might be involved in this. They will look at the two genes found in the earlier study and other genes nearby.