Are We At A Greater Risk of Dying From Stroke?

In a recent survey and study, comes an astonishing claim that African American men who live in southern states are at a significantly higher risk of dying from stroke than African American men living elsewhere. From a report by the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

It is already a known fact that blacks' risk of death from stroke is greater than whites'.  Studies have found that the combination of being an African American and living in the South could have even more deadly consequences than expected, said lead author George Howard, Dr. P.H., professor and chair, Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Howard and colleagues looked at stroke death data from 1997 through 2001 and calculated stroke mortality rates by race, age and state compared their findings.

"When it comes to your risk of stroke, you get a penalty for being African American, you get a penalty for living in the South, and you get an 'extra' penalty for being an African American living in the South," said Howard. Does this mean blacks that live in the southwest or northwest are not as likely to have such challenges in our health?  "Knowing that African Americans die more of stroke than their white counterparts, we wanted to know if the difference was consistent across the nation, or if the magnitude of the African American excess mortality changes between regions," Howard said.

The reasons for these racial differences between regions in the risk of dying from a stroke are not clear.  The average stroke death rate for white men age 55 - 64, living in the South was .49 per 1,000, compared to .38 per 1,000 for white men living elsewhere - representing a 29 percent higher death rate for white men living in the South than white men not living in the South, Howard said.  But it is a fact that more numbers of blacks are dying at a faster rate than their white counterparts.  Because of this fact, we must continue to research and compare data to establish the reasons in the difference between white and black men suffering from stroke.     

Footnote:  Excerpts taken from Co-authors are Darwin R. Labarthe, M.D., Ph.D.; Jianfang Hu, M.S.; Deborah A. Levine, Ph.D. and Virginia J. Howard of the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke sponsored the study.