Regional and Racial Differences in Response to Antihypertensive Medication Use in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Men With Hypertension in the United States

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Abstract
STROKE ACCOUNTS for 150,000 deaths annually and ranks third among all causes of death behind heart disease and cancer. In addition, there are approximately 500,000 new cases of stroke each year in the United States.1 Some regions of the United States have significantly higher stroke incidence and mortality rates than other parts of the country.2-4 Data from 19865-7 showed that there were 12 states with stroke mortality rates more than 10% above the mean rate for the rest of the United States: 10 of these states are in the southeastern region. This region has come to be known as the "Stroke Belt" because a higher stroke mortality risk in this region has persisted for more than 50 years despite major migrations in and out of the region and a 75% decrease in stroke mortality in the United States during that time.3,8