(HealthDay News) -- Blacks are more likely than whites to experience sudden cardiac arrest and it often occurs at an earlier age in blacks than in whites, according to research published online in Circulation.

Sumeet Chugh, M.D., associate director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, and colleagues collected data on 1,262 whites and 126 blacks. They all had experienced sudden cardiac arrest between 2002 and 2012. While 33% of the whites in the study had diabetes, 52% of the blacks did. Hypertension was an issue for 77% of the blacks, compared to 65% of the whites. Chronic renal insufficiency was nearly twice as likely in blacks, with 34% of them having the condition, the researchers found.

Blacks in the United States tend to have sudden cardiac arrest an average of 6 years earlier than whites, Chugh told HealthDay. In his study, he found other major differences as well. "Blacks, in addition to being younger, tended to have more diabetes, more high blood pressure, and more kidney problems, or chronic renal disease," he said.

Chugh added that he isn't certain what's driving the differences in sudden cardiac arrest between blacks and whites. It's possible it might be genetics, cultural differences in lifestyle or other factors, he suggested. Inadequate health coverage may be another factor.

Source

1. Reinier, K; Nichols, GA; Huertas-Vazquez, A; et al. Circulation, published online before print July 20, 2015; doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.015673.

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