The head of Cedars-Sinai’s hypertension center will use an $8.5 million grant to help train black barbers to check men for high blood pressure, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center announced June 17.
“Uncontrolled hypertension is one of the biggest health problems facing the African American community today,” said Dr. Ronald G. Victor, who published a study in 2011 showing that barber shop-based outreach could help save hundreds of lives.
Undetected hypertension can surface in the form of heart and kidney damage and lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Victor will use part of grant from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, to start a new study involving about 20 Los Angeles area barbershops, with the aim of possibly expanding the project, a statement said.
