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Migraines and other headaches, particularly those accompanied by aura, were associated with an increased occurrence of stroke/TIA symptoms and ischemic stroke events.

OBJECTIVETo compare A1C and fasting glucose for the diagnosis of diabetes among U.S. adults.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSThis study included 6,890 adults (≥20 years of age) from the 1999–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey without a self-reported history of diabetes who had fasted ≥9 h. A1C ≥6.5% and fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dl were used, separately, to define diabetes.RESULTSOverall, 1.8% of U.S. adults had A1C ≥6.5% and fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dl, 0.5% had A1C ≥6.5% and fasting glucose <126 mg/dl, and 1.8% had A1C <6.5% and fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dl. Compared with individuals with A1C <6.5% and fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dl, individuals with A1C ≥6.5% and fasting glucose <126 mg/dl were younger, more likely to be non-Hispanic black, had lower Hb levels, and had higher C-reactive protein.CONCLUSIONSA1C ≥6.5% demonstrates reasonable agreement with fasting glucose for diagnosing diabetes among U.S. adults.

The prevalence of hypertension is higher among African-Americans than whites. However, inconsistent findings have been reported on the incidence of hypertension among middle-aged and older African-Americans and whites and limited data are available on the incidence of hypertension among Hispanics and Asians in the US. Therefore, this study investigated the age-specific incidence of hypertension by ethnicity for 3,146 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Participants, age 45–84 years at baseline, were followed for a median of 4.8 years for incident hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg, or the initiation of antihypertensive medications. The crude incidence rate of hypertension, per 1,000 person-years, was 56.8 for whites, 84.9 for African-Americans, 65.7 for Hispanics, and 52.2 for Chinese. After adjustment for age, gender, and study site, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for hypertension was increased for African-Americans age 45–54 (IRR=2.05, 95% CI=1.47, 2.85), 55–64 (IRR=1.63, 95% CI=1.20, 2.23), and 65–74 years (IRR=1.67, 95% CI=1.21, 2.30) compared with whites, but not for those 75–84 years of age (IRR=0.97, 95% CI=0.56, 1.66). Additional adjustment for health characteristics attenuated these associations. Hispanic participants also had a higher incidence of hypertension compared with whites; however, hypertension incidence did not differ for Chinese and white participants. In summary, hypertension incidence was higher for African-Americans compared with whites between 45 and 74 years of age but not after age 75 years. Public health prevention programs tailored to middle-age and older adults are needed to eliminate ethnic disparities in incident hypertension.