ABC | Volume 115, Nº1, July 2020

Short Editorial Póvoa Clinical Characteristics of Hypertension Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; 115(1):40-41 Therefore, this study by Macedo et al. 10 is important for the assessment of the characteristics of different ethnic groups that comprise the Brazilian population. The study was carried out in the city of Salvador, Bahia, where the Afro-descendant population represents a good portion of the inhabitants. The deeper knowledge of blood pressure characteristics, cardiovascular risk, more effective drugs, preferential target- organ lesions, etc., can lead to more accurate control, prevention and therapeutic plans. This cross-sectional study, with precise clinical and laboratory evaluation – including ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to rule out the white coat effect, a very common situation – allowed conclusions of epidemiological importance in our Afro- descendant population. Many pathways will need to be traveled to unravel and fit all the parts of the multifactorial polygon of all hypertension phenotypes, mainly RH and RfH. We do not know yet what the precise roles of salt, the sympathetic nervous system, the endothelium and all the other related factors are in this complex disease called arterial hypertension. 1. MozaffarianD,BenjaminEJ,GoAS,,,ArnettDK,BlahaMJ,etal.AmericanHeart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics: 2015 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2015; 131(4):e29-e322. 2. Cooper RS, Forrester TE, Plange-Rhule J, Bovet P, Lambert EV, Dugas LR, et al. Elevated hypertension risk for African-origin populations in biracial societies: modelingtheEpidemiologicTransitionStudy.JHypertens.2015;33(3):473-81. 3. Howard G, Prineas R, Moy C,, KellllumM, Tempple E, Grahamm A,Kellum M, Temple E, GrahamA, et al. Racial and geographic differences in awareness, treatment,andcontrolofhypertension:theREasonsforGeographicAndRacial Differences in Stroke study. Stroke. 2006; 37(5):1171-8. 4. Rayner BL and Spenceb JD. Hypertension in blacks: insights from Africa. J Hypertens 2017;35(2):234-9. 5. MusemwaN,GadegbeukuCA.HypertensioninAfricanAmericans.CurrCardiol Rep. 2017;19:129-40. 6. Krieger EM, Drager LF, Giorgi DMA, Pereira AC, Barretto Filho JAS, Nogueira AS, et al. for ReHOT Investigators. Spironolactone Versus Clonidine as a Fourth-Drug Therapy for Resistant Hypertension The ReHOT Randomized Study (Resistant Hypertension Optimal Treatment). Hypertension. 2018;71(4):681-90. 7. WilliamsB,MacDonaldBTM,MorantS,WebbDJ,SeverP,McInnesG,etal.,for The British Hypertension Society’s PATHWAY Studies Group. Spironolactone versus placebo, bisoprolol, and doxazosin to determine the optimal treatment for drug-resistant hypertension (PATHWAY-2): a randomised, double-blind, crossover trial. Lancet. 2015; 386(10008):2059-68. 8. Williams B, MacDonald TM, Morant SV, Webb D, Sever P, Mackenzie G, et al., for The British Hypertension Society Programme of Prevention And Treatment of Hypertension With Algorithm based Therapy (PATHWAY) Study Group. Endocrine and haemodynamic changes in resistant hypertension, and blood pressure responses to spironolactone or amiloride: the PATHWAY-2 mechanisms substudies. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018;6(6):464-75. 9. Cooper RS, Forrester TE, Plange-Rhule J, Bovet P. Lambert EV, Dugas LR, et al. Elevated hypertension risk for African-origin populations in biracial societies: modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study. J Hypertens. 2015; 33(3):473-81. 10. Macedo C, Aras Junior R, Macedo IS. Características da Hipertensão Arterial Resistentevs.RefratáriaemumaPopulaçãodeHipertensosAfrodescendentes. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; 115(1):31-39. 11. Tu W, Eckert GJ, Hannon TS, Lliu H, Pratt LM, Wagner MA,, et al. Racial differences in sensitivity of blood pressure to aldosterone. Hypertension. 2014; 63(6):1212-8. 12. Brown MJ. Hypertension and ethnic group. BMJ. 2006;332(7545):833-6. 13. Wilson TW, GrimCE. Biohistory of slavery and blood pressure differences in blacks today. A hypothesis. Hypertension. 1991; 17(Suppl I):I122-8. 14. Weinberger MH. Hypertension in African Americans: the role of sodium chloride and extracellular fluid volume. Semin Nephrol. 1996;1116(2):110-6. 15. Weinberger MH. Sodium sensitivity of blood pressure. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 1993;2(6):935-9. References This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 41