Coronary risk factors and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in Asian Indians

Wang and co-workers reported on ethnic differences in ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in African Americans compared to people of European origin [1]. Data on ABP and heart rate (HR) on American Indians and Asian Indians could have made this study even more interesting [2]. Details on diet and lifestyle factors also appear to be important for mapping circadian changes in blood pressure (BP) in populations studied by the BIOCOS group [3]. Circadian changes in BP are synchronized by the daily routine via plasma concentrations of neurotransmitters, released by the pineal, pituitary and adrenal cortices, coordinated by clock genes situated in the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus [2], and at the cellular level [4, 5].