A study by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center found that African Americans who had survived an intracranial hemorrhage, a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain, were far more likely to have high blood pressure a year after their stroke than White Americans. The findings may explain why African Americans are more likely to suffer a second stroke than White Americans.
Intracranial hemorrhages account for about 10 percent of all strokes but 40 percent of all fatalities from strokes. The study found that 63 percent of Black patients had high blood pressure a year after their stroke compared to 38 percent of White stroke survivors, even though almost all the patients were on medication to lower their blood pressure.