Doctors are now referring to the southeast as the 'Stroke Belt'

[IDemo]

7.5 million deaths around the world each year are linked to hypertension or high blood pressure. One third of Americans have these health problems, however, half of the population in the southeastern part of the country live with high blood pressure and hypertension.

According to the Atlanta Black Star, health officials are now referring to the Bible Belt as the “stroke belt.” The risk of complications with health problems, like high blood pressure, increases the risk of stroke.

A recent study looked at 69,000 Americans who lived in the southeast between 2002 and 2009. About 57 percent of those studied had hypertension and about 51 percent had high blood pressure.

One author of the study, Dr. Uchechukwu K. A. Sampson, an assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says that the rates have not changed in recent years either. According to Reuters, obesity was also a factor in this study. Those who were obese had a higher risk of having hypertension and high blood pressure.

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2013/12/doctors-are-now-referring-southeast-stroke-belt

[Heddi]

1. The south has a high level of poverty

Poverty wages, coupled with lack of education, will often lead people to eat foods that are high salt, highly processed, low nutrition foods.

I am a nurse, and I have worked with Native American communities, White communities, Black communities, and Hispanic Communities. The common factor in all of those communities is that poverty is associated with poor health. The more disposable income someone has, the higher education someone has, the better off their overall health will be. That's not to say that more affluent people don't have diabetes, heart attack, stroke, or high blood pressure, but the numbers are lower.

I grew up in the south. People are poor there. There are large swaths of people, entire communities, who never make it past 9th grade.

It's poverty, not placement, that is the cause of the disease. You will find the same diseases in impoverished communities in the north and west.

[msongs]

2. yes but they have the baptist religion so that makes it all gods will nt

[adirondacker]

3. Exactly. Education and Health go hand in hand with economic circumstances.

A lot of people don't see and believe it. Too many rags to riches stories.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. This has been known for years.

This is just another survey confirming it. It has had that nickname for a while.

[TheBlackAdder]

5. Off topic: That cat jumping onto the bean bag is a wonderful clip! n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

6. I had high blood pressure for a long time, started a prescription ~4 months ago,

and my blood pressure (on Dec. 16th) was/is down to 128 over 74.

I did also lose 8 lbs. but I don't think that had as much, if anything, to do with it compared to the medication.


Maybe my experience is the exception, but if it is the rule then this condition is pretty easily dealt with so long as people can get to a doctor and afford a generic medication.