Tulane University research has shown that Hurricane Katrina has contributed to a dramatic rise in the number of people suffering a heart attack in New Orleans.

 

The study authors looked at the number of people admitted to Tulane Medical Center two years before the storm and two years after the hospital reopened. They found a three-fold increase in heart attacks and a 120 percent increase in coronary interventions, such as angioplasty, after Hurricane Katrina.

 

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 29, 2005, leaving people homeless and without a job and, consequently, without medical health insurance, lead author of the study, Dr. Arnand Irimpen, associate professor in the department of cardiology at Tulane University said. He believes that heart attacks were related to reduced access to preventive health services, combined with chronic stress caused by unemployment, lack of insurance and housing.

 

“I think a lot of [the rise in heart attacks] is [because of] the stress and what everyone has to go through after Katrina. I think that emotional stress contributes to the neglect of health care because your priority is to find a place to live and food to eat, and a lot of people have lost health care and many doctors left for a time. ... There is a domino effect,” Irimpen said.

 

The study was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.