Stroke Belt "Mystery"

I really need to get some of these research grants coming down the pike.

Dr. Howard, at UAB is stunned by why Blacks in the Southeast have a better than 50% higher risk for strokes. I am stunned by Dr. Howard.

“This is a remarkable mystery,” says Dr. George Howard, a biostatistician end epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We should be really embarrassed that we don’t know the answer.”

Personally, I would be embarrassed about having my name quoted in the story like that. Let's see: Southeast = predominantly rural, Black in the Southeast = traditionally poor heathcare or lack of access to healthcare, high-fat diets, high rate of obesity, high birth rate and a high rate of low excercise. Add up these facts and you can quickly come to a conclusion. Had Dr. Howard simply driven through Wrens, Georgia with me, I could almost point to the future stroke victims.... free of charge. However, Dr. Howard is at UAB, he doesn't even have to come over to Georgia - he can just drive over through Ensley and see what I am talking about...

I only wonder how much better spent this research grant money would have been if it had been dropped into some rural communities to correct the problem - not just continue to study it, with no conclusions.... but hey... they didn't ask me...