Heart attacks increased in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

In the decade since Hurricane Katrina, cardiologists in New Orleans have noticed an uptick in the number of patients suffering from heart attacks.

An initial study conducted by researchers at Tulane Medical Center showed that there were in fact more patients with heart attacks three years after the storm.

Now, a new study by the same researchers finds the uptick wasn’t temporary. The study revealed that the number of heart attacks treated at Tulane has continued to increase over the past decade. Researchers conclude that the immediate stress of the situation has contributed to the uptick.

This study is just one of several that has examined how natural disasters have affected cardiovascular health.

In the 10 years after Katrina, about 3 percent of admissions at Tulane were because of heart attacks. In the two years prior, less than 1 percent were admitted because of them, the study showed.

“We were surprised that this has persisted for 10 years,” said Anand M. Irimpen, MD, lead author on the study and an associate professor of clinical medicine at Tulane’s Heart and Vascular Institute. “I hope it comes down.”

Irimpen says the increase in heart attacks are the long-term effects of economic and emotional hardships that followed Katrina because he often hears from his patients that their post-Katrina lives are tougher than they were before.

“Most people, when they returned after the storm, their priority was rebuilding their homes and not their health,” said Irimpen.

Even he was affected by the storm; he had to live in Dallas for six months while his home was repaired.

Additionally, other research on communities struck by natural disasters shows similar findings. There was a 22 percent increase in heart attacks in areas of New Jersey impacted by Hurricane Sandy, according to a 2015 study.