Heart disease rates across the nation continue to fall, according to a report published today by the Centers for Disease Control.
And Hawaii had the lowest overall rate in the United States at 3.7%, but that number doesn't tell the whole story.
When you break it down based on race and socioeconomic status, not all groups in Hawaii are below the national average.
Heart disease is Hawaii's -- and the entire nation's -- leading cause of death.
"It's an issue that's near and dear to most of us, I would say."
Ranjani Rajan's grandfather died from heart disease.
She now studies chronic diseases, like heart disease, as an epidemiologist with the State Department of Health.
"To a large extent, the overall rates for the state do mask trends within certain communities," said Rajan.
For example, more than 7% of Native Hawaiian adults had heart disease in 2009, compared to only 3% of Japanese adults.
"So what is important programmatically for us is to be aware of these differences in racial groups and not just assume the overall state is doing excellently in terms of health," said Rajan.
And when you break it down based on counties, Hawaii County had the largest percentage at 5.3%, compared to Honolulu County at 3.6%.
Coincidentally, Hawaii County had the lowest median household income, and Honolulu county had the highest.
"Populations with lower income and lower educational status tend to experience higher rates of heart disease and other types of diseases. This is associated with access to health care and other health behaviors," said Rajan.
But our state as a whole is doing well when you compare us to the rest of the nation.
From 2006 to 2010, the prevalence of heart disease in Hawaii went down from 4.7% to 3.7%.
The national average went down from 6.7% to 6.0%.
"We know our smoking rates have gone down and we have some very aggressive policies in place better than a lot of other states, so we are not surprised the rates would go down," said Lola Irvin, Tobacco Settlement Project Manager.
Irvin says increased physical activity and better access to health care are some of the other reasons why Hawaii's overall rate went down.
The CDC adds that better treatments for high blood pressure and high cholesterol may also explain the nationwide trend.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kentucky had the highest prevalence of heart disease, at 8.2%.
The new statistics are published in the CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."
