Minnesotans are less likely than the average American to die of heart disease. The reason? Likely because, compared with national averages, Minnesotans smoke less, and fewer of us have high blood pressure.
That’s according to a recent University of Minnesota study led by Lyn Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health.
“We know that the cardiovascular mortality rate in Minnesota is lower than for the general populations,” Steffen says. “We think that, from these study findings, that it truly is the cardiovascular risk factor levels that are lower in Minnesotans that explain this difference.”
