A new study suggests that African-Americans are at a greater risk of suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest compared to white Americans.
Researchers compared 179 African-Americans and 1,745 caucasians from Oregon who suffered cardiac arrests between 2002 and 2012.
Overall, black men were the most likely to suffer a cardiac arrest, with approximately 175 cases per 100,000 people annually. The rate of cardiac arrest cases for black women was 90 cases per 100,000 people per year.
Amongst caucasians, the rate for white men was 84 cardiac arrest cases per 100,000 people per year, and for white women, the rate was 40 cardiac arrest cases per 100,000 people per year.
Age also played a factor—black people were on average six years younger than caucasians at the time of the cardiac arrest.
Researchers also discovered that black participants were at a higher risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease, compared to the white participants in the study.
According to the American Heart Association, each year in the U.S., there are an estimated 400,000 cardiac arrests outside of hospitals that are non-injury-related. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation reports that nine out of 10 of these cases result in death.
Source for Today’s Article:
“Sudden cardiac arrest more likely in African-Americans,” CNBC web site, July 20, 2015; http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/20/sudden-cardiac-arrest-more-likely-in-african-americans.html.