NYC heart disease deaths tops nation

By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published August 18, 2005

NEW YORK -- Experts cannot explain why New York City and suburbs have the nation's highest death rates from heart disease, raising more concerns about factors like stress.

A New York Times report based on death certificates also found that while heart disease may be more common among poorer people, Nassau County, one of the 15 highest-income counties, suffered heart disease death at a rate 20 percent above the norm.

The pattern has raised questions about whether people in the New York area live with an excess of heart disease risks -- stress, bad diets, too little exercise, the report said.

There is also the speculation that doctors in the area may be including deaths from other causes into the heart disease category to make the toll look worse than reality.

"It's an absolute paradox, and absolutely fascinating," said Thomas Pearson, an epidemiologist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

The city health department and the National Institutes of Health plan extensive studies to better assess poorly measured factors like stress, blood pressure and cholesterol in people in the New York area.