Relationship Between Mercury in Blood and 24-h Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Greenlanders and Danes

The Scientific Paper:

Erling B. Pedersesn, Marit E. Jorgensen, Michael B. Pedersen, Charlotte Siggard, Tina B. Sorenson, Gert Mulvad, Jens C. Hansen, Gert Asmund, and Henning Skjoldborg
American Journal of Hypertension. Vol. 18. pp 612-618. 2005.

Review This Scientific Paper’s Abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db
=PubMed&list_uids=15882543&dopt=Citation

The Purpose of this Study:
To learn if there is a relationship between mercury levels in blood and 24-hour blood pressure (BP) readings in Greenlanders and Danes.

Some Background, Methods, Results, Caveats, and Other Select Points:

• This peer-reviewed, scientific paper was published in 2005.
• The scientists measured mercury in the blood plus the 24-hour blood pressure in 186 health groups that were divided into 4 groups: Group 1, Danes living in Denmark who consume European food; Group 2, Greenlanders living in Denmark who consume European food; Group 3, Greenlanders living in Greenland who consume European food; and Group 4, Greenlanders living in Greenland who consume mainly traditional Greenlandic food.
• Mercury levels in blood were highest in Greenlanders. The mercury levels increased in Group 4—Greenlanders living in Greenland and consuming traditional Greenlandic food.
• The high level of mercury in the blood of Greenlanders is attributed to eating the traditional native Inuit (Eskimo) diet including whale meat and some other sea mammals.
• The 24-hour blood pressure was the same in all three groups of Greenlanders. However, 24-hour diastolic blood pressure was lower among Greenlanders than Danes.
• Pulse pressure increased with higher mercury content in the blood.
• Pulse pressure was higher and diastolic blood pressure was lower in Greenlanders than in Danes.
• Genetic factors are probably somewhat responsible for the difference in pulse pressure between Greenlanders and Danes. These scientists believe that their study seems to support the idea that mercury intake from seafood is involved here.
• The foods eaten by Greenlanders and Danes reported in this study are very different from what most Americans eat.
• Cardiovascular disease patterns in Greenland differ from the patterns in Western Europe and in the United States.
• The differences in blood pressure observed in this study may be caused by the genetic differences among the distinct ethnic groups. These genetic differences are totally separate from environmental factors.

A Bottom Line:
Mercury in blood is significantly and positively related to pulse pressure in the Greenlanders and Danes in this study.

This scientific paper is the first to report the relation between 24-hour blood pressure and mercury in blood.

Find This Scientific Paper for Your Review:
Relationship Between Mercury in Blood and 24-h Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Greenlanders and Danes. American Journal of Hypertension. Vol. 18. pp 612-618. 2005.