Blacks More Likely to Die Suddenly From Cardiac Arrest, Study Finds

The Oregon SUDS is an ongoing community-based study that uses multiple sources to ascertain the number of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occurring in the Portland area.

As the study found that black people had a higher prevalence of noncoronary cardiac risk factors for sudden cardiac arrests, it suggests identifying a broader spectrum of risk factors could help clinicians lower the sudden cardiac arrest burden in black people compared with other racial groups.

Furthermore, blacks were significantly younger – by more than six years – than whites at the time of cardiac arrest.

The incidence of sudden cardiac arrest among African-American men was 175 per 100,000 people, compared to 84 per 100,000 for Caucasian men.

For the study, researchers collected data on 1,745 white and 179 black residents in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area who experienced sudden cardiac arrest between 2002 and 2012.

Blacks who experience sudden cardiac arrest had the same rates as whites of coronary artery disease, long considered the strongest predictor of risk. With African American woman, the scientists observed 90 cases out of 100,000 people per year. And although the current study didn’t examine why exactly these differences exist among races, Reinier has a few guesses that warrant further study.

A novel research has unveiled that African-Americans are at more risk in comparison to whites to suffer from sudden cardiac arrest.

52 percent of African-American patients had diabetes, compared to 33 percent of Caucasian patients.

Unlike heart attacks (myocardial infarctions), which are typically caused by clogged coronary arteries reducing blood flow to the heart muscle, sudden cardiac arrest is the result of defective electrical activity of the heart.

The researchers also found that blacks in the study were much more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease, compared to their white counterparts.

“Cardiac arrest is recognized by the “bad company” it keeps, so the mantra has been: prevent coronary artery disease, prevent sudden cardiac death. Also, genetics could play a role”. Sudden cardiac arrests are a major cause of death in the USA, leading to around 300,000-350,000 deaths a year – around 50% of all cardiovascular deaths.

Reinier says we need more research to “improve prediction and prevention of sudden cardiac arrest in African Americans, as well as in other races”, but right now, this new study can serve as a reminder that sudden cardiac arrest takes many lives each year.

And there is something you can do, should a person close to you suffer an attack. “Bystander CPR, provided while the ambulance is on its way, increases the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest”.