Medicine: Deaths from Heart Disease

• Share

A man's chances of dying of a heart attack if he lives in New York State are more than twice as high as those of a resident of New Mexico. The rates are abnormally high also in several other northeastern states and the District of Columbia. West of the Ohio, the only states equally lethal are California, Louisiana and Nevada. Among women, the rates average less than half those of the men, but the geographical variations, on the whole, follow a similar pattern. Men's death rates from heart disease exceed women's at all ages, but by far the greatest variations between the sexes are caused by the soaring rates among men aged 45 to 64. These are the main findings of a study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service (among whites) for the years 1949-51. State-by-state rates (per 100,000 pop.) for the 45-64 age group:

Male Female New York 653.4 223.2

California 620.0 159.0

Rhode Island 613.4 194.0

District of Columbia 613.1 137.7

Massachusetts 612.6 188.0

South Carolina 596.4 137.7

New Hampshire 590.3 155.2

New Jersey 588.8 194.3

Pennsylvania 580.8 196.7

Louisiana 572.4 149.3

Nevada 569.6 129.3

Florida 569.5 128.4

Maryland 568.4 146.7

Connecticut 565.6 176.6

Vermont 559.4 148.1

Delaware 546.9 176.6

Illinois 545.2 157.1

Michigan 542.8 154.1

Ohio 541.3 151.3

Washington 539.2 134.6

Maine 533.4 152.8

Indiana 530.8 136.0

Virginia 521.5 134.7

Oregon 511.2 120.6

Montana 494.5 129.6

Wisconsin 488.9 144.3

Georgia 477.2 116.6

North Carolina 473.6 117.7

Idaho 467.7 106.7

Iowa 466.8 119.7

Missouri 458.6 123.6

Minnesota 457.8 125.5

Texas 453.2 104.1

Kansas 449.2 102.2

Colorado 446.4 131.3

South Dakota 438.2 113.2

Oklahoma 436.6 95.8

Nebraska 435.3 90.6

Utah 434.8 118.5

Wyoming 433.3 90.4

Mississippi 430.9 105.2

West Virginia 429.2 137.4

Arizona 427.1 89.8

Alabama 422.1 114.5

Arkansas 388.0 92.7

Tennessee 385.6 106.1

Kentucky 380.5 107.5

North Dakota 374.3 110.1

New Mexico 309.0 79.2