New guide maps heart disease among women

New county-level maps showing racial and ethnic disparities in heart disease death rates among U.S. women, including county-specific data for Missouri, were released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and West Virginia University in collaboration with the American Heart Association.

"Women and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mortality" provides county heart disease death rates for women in the five major racial and ethnic groups for each state, the District of Columbia and New York City, according to a release from the Missouri Department of Health.

The atlas includes six maps showing heart disease death rates in Missouri for the years 1991-1995 for African American women, American Indian and Alaska Native women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, Hispanic women, white women, and women of all ethnicities combined.

"The burden of heart disease among women in Missouri greatly concerns us," said Maureen Dempsey, MD, director of the Missouri Department of Health, in the release. "This atlas provides us with information we need to tailor heart-health programs and policies to women in need."

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability among women in the United States. Approximately 370,000 American women die from heart disease each year.

Maps in the atlas identify counties with the highest heart disease death rates for women and the greatest need for prevention policies and programs.

Additional information about the atlas, including a downloadable version of the report, can be found at the West Virginia University Web site: http://oseahr. hsc.wvu.edu.