J Natl Med Assoc
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In a previous study, one of the authors (C. C. B.) found isolated sleep paralysis was common in blacks. ⋯ Frequent episodes were associated with stress, and subjects with isolated sleep paralysis had an unusually high prevalence of panic disorder (15.5 percent). The genetic transmission of sleep paralysis was studied in a large black family, and in addition to stressful environmental factors being associated with the condition, there appears to be a dominant genetic factor associated with the predisposition for developing sleep paralysis. The implications of these findings for stress, anxiety, sleep, and psychophysiologic disorders are discussed.
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The prevalence of hypertension in blacks is higher than that of whites by all demographic variables. This might lead to the conclusion that there is a genetic basis for the disease. ⋯ An ecological hypothesis to explain the intake and retention of salt and the response to environmental stress as possible reasons for the interracial and intraracial prevalence differences are presented. Physicians may find this ecological approach of use in improving treatment of black hypertensive patients.