High blood pressure + cholesterol = eye disease.
High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels not only are bad for your heart, but they may also harm your eyesight, a new report suggests. The two conditions appear to increase one’s risk for retinal vein occlusion, a condition that leads to vision loss. It results from one or more veins carrying blood from the eye to the heart becoming blocked and causing bleeding or fluid build-up, according to background information in the report published in the May issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology. The study found that people with high blood pressure had more than 3.5 times the risk of developing retinal vein occlusion than those without it. People with high cholesterol levels had an 2.5-fold higher risk of retinal vein occlusion. Black Americans have a higher rate of high blood pressure, and are more susceptible to the eye disease risk, experts say. The findings come from an analysis of 21 previously published studies involving 2,916 people with retinal vein occlusion and 28,646 people without the condition. It found that 63.6 percent of patients with retinal vein occlusion also had hypertension, compared with 36.2 percent of people without the eye condition. High cholesterol levels were more than twice as likely to be found in those with retinal vein occlusion as those without (35.1 percent vs. 16.7 percent). Diabetes also occurred slightly more often among those with retinal vein occlusion than among those without (14.6 percent vs. 11.1 percent). The best precaution is to get your blood pressure checked and avoid problems early on, doctors say. For more on how to control your high blood pressure, go BET.com/Body & Soul.

Infant deaths rise in urban Michigan
The Black-White infant death rate gap continues to grow in most of Michigan’s large urban areas despite progress in reducing risk factors among Blacks, according to a recent study, the Flint Journal reports. Black infants are three times more likely than White babies to die before age 1, according to the study by the Michigan branch of Kids Count conducted the study, which looked at 11 urban Michigan communities, through the Michigan League for Human Services. From 2004 through 2006, the Black infant mortality rate in the county was 18.6 deaths per 1,000 births, compared with 7.3 per 1,000 live births for Whites. A greater number of low-birthweight babies among Blacks contributed to the infant mortality disparity, according to the Journal.

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