AP Photo/Eric Gay
In this July 12, 2012 photo, two women wait in an exam room at Nuestra Clinica Del Valle, in San Juan, Texas. About 85 percent of those served at the clinic are uninsured. Texas already has one of the nations most restrictive Medicaid programs, offering coverage only to the disabled, children and parents who earn less than $2,256 a year for a family of three. Without a Medicaid expansion, the states working poor will continue relying on emergency rooms _ the most costly treatment option _ instead of primary care doctors. The Texas Hospital Association estimates that care for uninsured patients cost hospitals in the state $4.5 billion in 2010. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
TUESDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke rates in older white and Mexican Americans declined over the past decade but remain higher in Mexican Americans, researchers have found.
The study looked at the incidence of ischemic stroke -- which is the most common type of stroke and is caused by a clot in the blood vessels of the brain -- among people aged 45 and older who lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, between 2000 and 2010.
During that time, more than 4,600 people in the study group experienced an ischemic stroke (2,604 Mexican-Americans and 2,042 whites). There was a 36 percent decline in the overall ischemic stroke rate in both groups during the study period, but it was limited to people 60 and older.
"The dramatic decline in stroke rates during the last decade is encouraging," lead author Dr. Lewis Morgenstern, of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, said in a journal news release. "However, the ongoing disparity among younger patients emphasizes the need for further interventions to prevent stroke, particularly among young Mexican-Americans."
Morgenstern noted that Mexican-Americans are one of the largest and fastest growing minority groups in the United States.
"In minority groups, stroke occurs at much younger ages, often resulting in greater disability and significantly higher costs," Morgenstern said.
The cost of stroke in the first half of this century in the United States could be more than $1.5 trillion, according to experts.
Original post:
Stroke Rates Dropped Over Decade, Study in Texas Finds