To investigate the possibility of a Hispanic mortality advantage, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published longitudinal literature reporting Hispanic individuals' mortality from any cause compared with any other race/ethnicity. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, HealthSTAR, and PsycINFO for published literature from January 1990 to July 2010. Across 58 studies (4 615 747 participants), Hispanic populations had a 17.5% lower risk of mortality compared with other racial groups (odds ratio = 0.825; P < .001; 95% confidence interval = 0.75, 0.91). The difference in mortality risk was greater among older populations and varied by preexisting health conditions, with effects apparent for initially healthy samples and those with cardiovascular diseases. The results also differed by racial group: Hispanics had lower overall risk of mortality than did non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks, but overall higher risk of mortality than did Asian Americans. These findings provided strong evidence of a Hispanic mortality advantage, with implications for conceptualizing and addressing racial/ethnic health disparities.

There is a marked diurnal variation in blood pressure (BP), with BP dipping to its lowest levels during nighttime sleep. A day-night dip in systolic BP (SBP) of <10% has been used to characterize individuals as nondippers, and is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The present study examined the contribution of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to BP dipping in a biracial sample of 172 men and women aged 25 to 45 years. Assessments included 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring and both waking and sleeping urinary catecholamines. In addition, cardiovascular alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptor (AR) responsiveness was determined by the doses of isoproterenol and phenylephrine required to attain an increase in heart rate of 25 points (CD25) and BP (PD25), respectively. Compared with dippers (n = 116), nondippers (n = 56) were more likely to be African American and to have a family history of hypertension as well as a higher body mass index (BMI). The nighttime fall in both norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (EPI) excretion rates was reduced in nondippers compared with dippers (NE dip 9.3 v 13.1 microg/mg; EPI dip 2.7 v 4.0 microg/mg; both P < .05). Nondippers also were characterized by heightened alpha1-AR responsiveness compared with dippers (PD25 = 252 v 321 microg, P < .05). These data suggest that the SNS may contribute to individual differences in nighttime BP dipping, and appears to account in part for blunted BP dipping in African Americans.

Acculturation to western society is associated with higher BP, and the distress associated with cultural change appears to be more influential than changes in diet or physical activity. Future studies would benefit from investigating how cultural change affects health and examining whether some non-Western cultural values and practices are health protective.

Perceived racism and anger inhibition are independently related to higher ABP. Both may contribute to the incidence of hypertension and hypertensive-related diseases observed in African Americans.

The exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the outer membrane leaflet of red blood cells (RBCs) serves as a signal for eryptosis, a mechanism for the RBC clearance from blood circulation. The process of PS exposure was investigated as function of the intracellular Ca²⁺ content and the activation of PKCα in human and sheep RBCs. Cells were treated with lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), 4-bromo-A23187, or phorbol-12 myristate-13 acetate (PMA) and analysed by flow cytometry, single cell fluorescence video imaging, or confocal microscopy. For human RBCs, no clear correlation existed between the number of cells with an elevated Ca²⁺ content and PS exposure. Results are explained by three different mechanisms responsible for the PS exposure in human RBCs: (i) Ca²⁺-stimulated scramblase activation (and flippase inhibition) by LPA, 4-bromo-A23187, and PMA; (ii) PKC activation by LPA and PMA; and (iii) enhanced lipid flop caused by LPA. In sheep RBCs, only the latter mechanism occurs suggesting absence of scramblase activity.

Meditation is associated with positive health behaviors and improved cognitive control. One mechanism for the relationship between meditation and cognitive control is changes in activity of the anterior cingulate cortex-mediated neural pathways. The error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) components of the scalp-recorded event-related potential (ERP) represent cingulate-mediated functions of performance monitoring that may be modulated by mindfulness meditation. We utilized a flanker task, an experimental design, and a brief mindfulness intervention in a sample of 55 healthy non-meditators (n = 28 randomly assigned to the mindfulness group and n = 27 randomly assigned to the control group) to examine autonomic nervous system functions as measured by blood pressure and indices of cognitive control as measured by response times, error rates, post-error slowing, and the ERN and Pe components of the ERP. Systolic blood pressure significantly differentiated groups following the mindfulness intervention and following the flanker task. There were non-significant differences between the mindfulness and control groups for response times, post-error slowing, and error rates on the flanker task. Amplitude and latency of the ERN did not differ between groups; however, amplitude of the Pe was significantly smaller in individuals in the mindfulness group than in the control group. Findings suggest that a brief mindfulness intervention is associated with reduced autonomic arousal and decreased amplitude of the Pe, an ERP associated with error awareness, attention, and motivational salience, but does not alter amplitude of the ERN or behavioral performance. Implications for brief mindfulness interventions and state vs. trait affect theories of the ERN are discussed. Future research examining graded levels of mindfulness and tracking error awareness will clarify relationship between mindfulness and performance monitoring.

The results of this study extend previous findings by showing that, among African Americans, religious coping and BP are related during daily activities as well as in the clinic. Lower 24-hour BP load may be a pathway through which religiosity and cardiovascular health are related.

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