Tuesday, April 05, 2011
The heart attack rate in New Orleans was three times higher in 2009 than it was before Hurricane Katrina struck four years earlier, according to a new medical study.
Prior to August 2005, when the storm hit, heart attacks represented 0.7% of all hospital admissions. By 2009, the rate has leaped to 2.2%.
Researchers cited high levels of stress and psychiatric illnesses as contributing factors to the jump in heart problems.
“Many of the patients we see are not yet back to their pre-Katrina residences, have not regained employment and are less likely to comply with treatment plans that can help prevent heart attacks. The emphasis is not on health but on getting back to your home,” said Dr. Anand Irimpen with the Heart and Vascular Institute at Tulane University School of Medicine.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Tripling of Heart Attack Risk Persisted Four Years after Katrina (by Lisa Nainggolan, TheHeart.org)
Post-Katrina Heart Attack Rate Three-Times Higher -Study (by Bill Berkrot, Reuters)
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