Natural disasters can destroy more than property

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, leaving many homeless and helpless. Now, a new study reveals the stress some of the victims endured may still be contributing to health problems.

Researchers at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic found there was a threefold increase in the rate of heart attacks treated at the hospital since the storm. In the two years before Katrina, the researchers found heart attacks accounted for 150 of the 21,229 patients admitted to the hospital. In the two years since the hospital re-opened in 2006, there were 246 heart attacks out of 11,282 patients.

The post-Katrina heart attack patients were also more likely to need surgery or artery-opening procedures and less likely to have jobs or medical insurance than the prehistoric patients. Many studies have documented increases in heart attacks after a major disaster, but researchers say this may be the first one to show that the increase can happen years later.

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