Strokes among females of this age group are “one of the fastest growing diseases among all Minnesota members under age 65.” Also strokes “topped the list of fastest growing major diseases in the company’s ‘2006 Health Concerns Report.’”
Diabetes was a close second for women age 41-64 with an increase of “20.5% between 2001 and 2005, compared to 17.9% among males in the same age group.” An interesting stat was the spike in the number of women having obesity surgical procedures done. A remarkable 121% increase with nearly 242 patients per 100,000.
Hypertension, arterial disease in which chronic high blood pressure is the primary symptom, among men under 40 increased by 23.8%. Is this due to stress? Anyone with ideas let us know your thoughts.
Insurance companies certainly know that the risk of stroke increases dramatically among obese persons, and hypertension also leads to stroke. That is not a surprise, but is there a large number of obese persons in Minnesota? I would imagine that these are every bit as likely (diet, exercise, etc.) as stress.
Jerry
Posted by: Jerry | August 22, 2008 7:55 PM | Permalink to Comment