OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the burden of that disease isn’t spread evenly across the country, with multiple states in the South seeing disproportionately high death rates that show significant geographic differences in heart health outcomes, based on a new study.
The ranking from NiceRX put Oklahoma at the top of the list for having the highest heart disease death rate in America: 250.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which is 50.8% higher than the national average of 166.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
“I think the data from the study are an unfortunate sobering reminder of the burden of heart disease in our state,” said Dr. Usman Baber, chief of cardiology at OU Health, while reacting to the study.
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The other top states in the study were Mississippi, Alabama, and several other Southern and Midwestern states, including Tennessee and Kentucky.
NiceRx, which sells weight loss drugs like compounded semaglutide or compounded tirzepatide, used data from the CDC to compile the ranking. The company found more than one in four deaths in Oklahoma, or 27%, are caused by heart disease…