CHICAGO, Jan 04, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Illinois researchers Tuesday reported high rates of hypertension among U.S. African-Americans might be associated with lifestyle more than genetics.

The international study, published in BMC Medicine, showed there is a wide variation in the prevalence of hypertension within white and African-American racial groups when viewed internationally. In populations of African origin it ranges from 14 percent to 44 percent, while in white populations it is from 27 percent to 55 percent.

Richard Cooper and his team, from Loyola University Strich School of Medicine in Chicago, said the study showed black populations from Nigeria have a hypertension rate that is more than half the rate found in white Europeans and Americans.

The findings also suggest high blood pressure seems to increase with the transition to an industrialized lifestyle.

"These data suggest that the impact of environmental factors among both populations may have been under-estimated," the authors wrote.