New Orleans heart attack rate skyrockets post-Katrina: Study

[Playinghardball]

Source: Reuters

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans residents were found to have three times the rate of heart attacks four years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina than before the storm and levee break that flooded the city, according to a study presented at a major heart meeting on Sunday.

The three-fold increase had first been observed two years after the August 2005 hurricane and, much to the surprise of researchers collecting the data, it has persisted.

"We expected a down-trend after four years," said Dr. Anand Irimpen, who presented the data at the American College of Cardiology scientific meeting and continues to collect heart attack statistics as the six-year anniversary approaches.

"We had some indication of Katrina's effect on heart health from our initial study, but it appears to be more far reaching than expected," said Irimpen, chief of cardiology of the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System .

Read more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/03/new-orleans-heart-attack-rate-skyrockets-post-katrina-study/

[indepat]

1. That the body begins to break down when under long-term stress is understandable, but this data

are shocking nonetheless. :cry:

[razorman]

2. Without more data, I won't assume that heart attacks are actually increasing.

Perhaps other factors, like age, could be different now. Perhaps there is a much higher percentage of older folks living in the area. It could be that younger residents did not return to the Big Easy after Katrina. That would certainly affect the data on heart problems. I am sure someone is collecting that info somewhere, though.