Different areas of the United States have markedly different rates of three kinds of heart disease, according to a recent study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention which was published in their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The types of heart disease studied were coronary heart disease, heart attack and angina. Rates for any of the three conditions ranged from 3.5 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands to 10.4 percent in West Virginia. For heart attack specifically, rates ranged from 2.1 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands to 6.1 percent in West Virginia.

Areas with the lowest levels of all three heart problems were Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The highest occurrences were in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

Study lead author Jonathan Neyer, an epidemiologist in CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, said “We hope this report will help states and U.S. territories better tailor their heart disease prevention efforts,”

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