Blood Pressure in Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

Kaminer, Benjamin; Lutz, W.

doi:10.1161/01.cir.22.2.289

Cited by 86 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…An important article in Circulation describes the blood pressure (BP) patterns of this group in 1960. 10 Quite differently from the pattern in most Western persons, the BP did not rise with age. This poses the repetitive problem, do the differences lie in the genes or the environment?…”

Section: Early Tribal Lifementioning

confidence: 85%

Cardiovascular Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Opie

Mayosi

2005

Circulation

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Section: Early Tribal Lifementioning

confidence: 85%

Cardiovascular Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Opie

Mayosi

2005

Circulation

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“…In Kalahari Desert Bushmen and Central African Pygmies, observers could not find any case of high blood pressure and blood pressure did not increase with age (335,349) . Dental surveys of Kalahari Bushmen (350) and other hunter -gatherers (49) showed a remarkable absence of caries.…”

Section: Anthropologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

2012

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Evolutionary medicine acknowledges that many chronic degenerative diseases result from conflicts between our rapidly changing environment, our dietary habits included, and our genome, which has remained virtually unchanged since the Palaeolithic era. Reconstruction of the diet before the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions is therefore indicated, but hampered by the ongoing debate on our ancestors' ecological niche. Arguments and their counterarguments regarding evolutionary medicine are updated and the evidence for the long-reigning hypothesis of human evolution on the arid savanna is weighed against the hypothesis that man evolved in the proximity of water. Evidence from various disciplines is discussed, including the study of palaeo-environments, comparative anatomy, biogeochemistry, archaeology, anthropology, (patho)physiology and epidemiology. Although our ancestors had much lower life expectancies, the current evidence does neither support the misconception that during the Palaeolithic there were no elderly nor that they had poor health. Rather than rejecting the possibility of ‘healthy ageing’, the default assumption should be that healthy ageing posed an evolutionary advantage for human survival. There is ample evidence that our ancestors lived in a land–water ecosystem and extracted a substantial part of their diets from both terrestrial and aquatic resources. Rather than rejecting this possibility by lack of evidence, the default assumption should be that hominins, living in coastal ecosystems with catchable aquatic resources, consumed these resources. Finally, the composition and merits of so-called ‘Palaeolithic diets’, based on different hominin niche-reconstructions, are evaluated. The benefits of these diets illustrate that it is time to incorporate this knowledge into dietary recommendations.

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“…Several studies performed in Africa also suggested that hypertension was rare in African populations, although in some cases this was thought to relate to poor nutrition and sarcopenia. [65][66][67] However, it is striking that early studies in Bantu-speaking groups reported unusually high frequencies of hypertension, many of whom went on to develop kidney disease. 68,69 Renal biopsy studies confirmed that the primary lesion was of severe arteriolosclerosis with secondary glomerulosclerosis, lesions that can occur with severe primary hypertension.…”

Section: A Genetic Basis For Hypertension and Kidney Disease: Role Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights on the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in African Americans

Saab

Kendrick

Yracheta

et al. 2015

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

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African Americans are at increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including obesity, high BP, diabetes, CKD, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Here we summarize the current risks and provide an overview of the underlying risk factors that may account for these associations. By reviewing the relationship between cardiovascular and renal diseases and the African-American population during the early 20th century, the historic and recent associations of African heritage with cardiovascular disease, and modern population genetics, it is possible to assemble strong hypotheses for the primary underlying mechanisms driving the increased frequency of disease in African Americans. Our studies suggest that underlying genetic mechanisms may be responsible for the increased frequency of high BP and kidney disease in African Americans, with particular emphasis on the role of APOL1 polymorphisms in causing kidney disease. In contrast, the Western diet, particularly the relatively high intake of fructose-containing sugars and sweetened beverages, appears to be the dominant force driving the increased risk of diabetes, obesity, and downstream complications. Given that intake of added sugars is a remediable risk factor, we recommend clinical trials to examine the reduction of sweetened beverages as a primary means for reducing cardiovascular risk in African Americans.

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Blood Pressure in Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

Cited by 86 publications

References 13 publications

Cardiovascular Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cardiovascular Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

New Insights on the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in African Americans

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