Former slaveholding counties show slowest decline in heart disease among blacks
A new study found a potential link between U.S. counties with a history of slavery and slower rates of decline in heart disease mortality. The researchers, led by Michael Kramer, associate professor of epidemiology, found that while heart disease has decreased by approximately 60 percent in the past 50 years nationwide, the pace of decline was slower for blacks compared with whites and slower in counties that had higher levels of slaveholding in 1860.
"A challenge for public health professionals is understanding the reasons for racial and geographic differences in the pace of progress in fighting heart disease," says Kramer. "Work by historians and sociologists suggests that the legacy of slavery persists today in the local institutions and norms of southern counties— enlarging racial disparities in educational attainment, poverty, and employment. We wondered whether this legacy also impacts the rate of decline in heart disease mortality."
Kramer and his colleagues found that the slower declines in heart disease in counties with a slaveholding past was partly explained by the racial gaps in education and economic opportunity. "Public health action needs to go beyond simple individual messaging around heart health and engage with the historical legacy of places and their institutions to identify barriers to future progress," says Kramer.
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