Lyndhurst, NJ, Nov. 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The stress of city life may be taking a heavy toll on New Yorkers.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been more than 16 million searches for cardiologists on Vitals and over 2 million of those have come from New York state. These figures are much higher than the state average of just under 34,000 cardiologist searches performed. What’s even more surprising though is the fact that 85% of the state searches, or 1.7 million, have come from New York City residents.
Vitals users find a doctor by searching for a particular doctor’s name, or by a condition, symptoms or a physician’s specialty. Vitals analyzed how many users chose ‘Cardiologist’ in their ‘Find a Doctor’ tool and the location of each user’s IP address to determine which state researched cardiologists the most.
According to a 2007 study by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, New York state ranks 7th in the nation for number of heart related deaths per 100 thousand people. But while there may be six states ahead of New York in ranking, the populations of each of those states are only a fraction of the size.
As the most populous state in the nation facing a heart health crisis, New York healthcare specialists are working to change this trend.
Measures like requiring restaurant chains to prominently post calorie counts on their menus, amending the Health Code to phase out artificial trans fats in New York food service establishments and the New York based National Salt Reduction Initiative have all been implemented to establish better eating habits and reduce the high rate of heart disease in the state.
Dr. Franz Messerli, the Director of Hypertension at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, thinks these are important steps in combating heart disease, but does not feel that New Yorker City residents are suffering from heart disease at a higher rate than residents of other cities.
"New York is a relatively high-stress city and stress is known to increase the rate of heart disease to some extent," said Messerli, "but in general, people are relatively healthy in New York (City) because they walk a lot."
Messerli believes the high number of searches for cardiologists coming out of the city has more to do with a greater concern among residents about heart health due to greater exposure to the consequences, as well as a tendency to be proactive. "(New York City residents) see ambulances racing down the street every day and are more aware and internet savvy."
Below are the top states searching for cardiologists on Vitals:
1. New York - over 2 million
2. Florida - over 1.4 million
3. Texas - over 1.2 million
4. California - over 1 million
5. New Jersey - over 900 thousand
Visit Vitals.com for more information or to find a cardiologist near you.
About Vitals
Vitals empowers consumers with the tools and services they need to take charge of their health. Vitals is the only website dedicated to helping patients find doctors that meet their needs, request appointments and prepare for their visit with our condition-specific Patient Guides. Used by over 9 million people each month, Vitals makes it easy for patients to find and connect with quality medical care.