Heart disease is largely preventable, experts say. Still, it’s the number one killer of Black women who sometimes lack access to health care and whose symptoms are often ignored. “The stark reality is more women die from heart disease than any other cause,” said Dr. Yanting Wang, a cardiologist and director of the Women’s Heart and Cardio-Obstetrics Program at Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine at Rutgers University. “When we look closer into the racial disparities, Black women are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease.”
As of 2022, statewide, Black people died of heart disease at a rate of 211.3 per 100,000 population compared to white people, who died at a rate of 172.7, data from the state Department of Health showed. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nationally, from 2017 to 2018, Black women were 50% more likely to have high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease than their white counterparts. To read the full story.