Louisiana Makes Top Ten List for Sick People with Chronic Conditions

Forbes Advisor just recently released their analysis of the country's least healthiest states, and Louisiana ranked in the top ten list of the least healthiest.

According to the Centers for Disease Control data, we here in Louisiana not only are at the top of the list, we also are suffering from chronic conditions, and many of us suffer from more than one chronic condition.

For example, Louisiana has 221 people per 100,000 who will die due to heart disease, putting us in the number 7 slot. Also, 12.4% of the population in our state has diabetes. The American Diabetes Association says that equates to about 500,000.

In addition to those who have already been diagnosed with diabetes, it is estimated that 113,000 people in Louisiana are diabetic, but they don't know it.

A report called "The Burden of Diabetes in Louisiana" states the following:

There are 1,243,000 people in Louisiana, 34.4% of the adult population, who have prediabetes with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

It's a recipe ripe for disaster.

While we didn't rank at number one, we did come in at seventh for least healthiest states. According to Forbes Advisor, eight out of ten of the states in the top ten of the least healthiest states are in the South, and they include the following:

West Virginia

Mississippi

Tennessee

Arkansas

Kentucky

Alabama

Oklahoma

Louisiana

How Do They Determine How States Are Ranked?

In looking at the health data from various states, Forbes Advisor looked at 21 different metrics to determine which state ranked in which slot. They looked at the data points in three categories that included:

Substance Abuse

Disease Risk Factors and Prevalence

Lifestyle Habits and Health Outlook

Part of the problem for Louisiana residents is how many of us have more than one chronic condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a chronic condition as something a person has for more than a year that persists.

Many of us here in Louisiana suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease along with diabetes.

Which States Made the Top Ten List?

10. Indiana

9. Ohio

8. Oklahoma

7. Louisiana

6. Alabama

5. Kentucky

4. Arkansas

3. Tennessee

2. Mississippi

1. West Virginia

According to the American College of Cardiology reports projections for the future for our entire country are pretty dismal. Here are the increases in chronic conditions projected between 2025 and 2060:

The number of diabetic people will increase by 39.3%

The number of people with high blood pressure will increase by 27.2%

The number of people considered obese will rise by 18.3%