Live in Connecticut.....not one of the dark areas.

I have some ideas for discrepancies between states. I would think that in the rural areas it would take longer to get to the hospital so that would increase the death rate. Local culture probably would be a factor -- fried foods vs sushi. Personal appearance norms....loose and casual vs sleek and revealing. Just some of my ideas. A big factor would be smoking. I believe smoking is probably more prevalent in the rural community because there are a lot less restrictions on it then in an urban environment.

Excellent Ter1! Now you are brainstorming the heart attack map.

I think you are correct about the smoking. If we compare the smoking map over the heart attack map, they correspond almost perfectly.

And I think you hit the nail on the head with culture as being one of the reasons with your example of lots of fried foods. Southern cookin' as they say. Chicken fried steak and crispy fried catfish.

Also, if I can add, the obesity map corresponds very well with the heart attack map.

But take notice the northern plains states. I thought maybe one reason they have less heart disease there is all that fresh air on the open plains. Little industry, few cars.

Thanks for helping me brainstorm the map.

Oh, I forgot this. The blood pressure map corresponds well with the heart attack map.

Smoking, obesity, batter fried culture, and high blood pressure, all correspond well to the areas hardest hit.

Makes sense.

Yes Ter, is does make sense.

But what won't make sense to most people is the cholesterol map does NOT correspond to the heart attack map. That is a hard one to swallow considering we have had it pounded into our brains for 4 decades that cholesterol causes heart disease.

Back in 2001 and 2001, quest labs records the higher levels of "Bad" cholesterol in the northern plains states.