ATLANTA, May 19 (UPI) -- African-Americans and residents of Southeast United States have a higher risk of stroke, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In two separate studies, the CDC identified factors that are linked to a higher incidence of stroke. They found Americans of African descent lost twice as many years of potential life due to stroke than all other races.
The risk for having a stroke was especially high in America's "Stroke Belt," which includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In these states the prevalence of stroke for African Americans was 3.4 percent as opposed to 2.8 percent for people of similar heritage in other states.
The prevalence among white residents was 2.5 percent if they lived in the Stroke Belt but only 1.8 percent in non-Southeastern states.
The researchers attributed the differences to demographics, education, uninsured medical care and risk factors for stroke such as smoking.
