Geo-Specifc Disease and the Stroke Belt: Do Soils Play a Role in Stroke Mortality?.

The concept of geo-specific disease is commonly associated with socio-economic factors, such as income and education that can affect the incidence of preventable diseases. However, geo-specific diseases may also be influenced by environmental factors, such as soil and water quality. Local soil and water may trigger biological, chemical, and physical factors that promote nutrient deficiencies or specific microbial interactions within the digestive system. In the United States, stroke rates have dropped since the 1930’s except for in the southeast, creating a “stroke belt”. People born within this region are more susceptible to stroke, even after they migrate to other regions. Maps of stroke mortality by county in South Carolina show the stroke belt can be further concentrated within MLRA 133A (Southern Coastal Plain). We used water quality measurements and the SSURGO database to correlate regional properties to stroke mortality in the southeast, to determine the role of soil and water in a new environmental frontier in human health.