DECODING STROKE DISPARITIES: ZIP CODES, COLOR CODES, AND EPIGENETIC CODES

Despite decreases in overall stroke incidence and mortality in the United States, racial and ethnic disparities continue unabated. Of note, the long-standing disproportionate burden of stroke on African Americans compared to other racial and ethnic groups persists, and national projections indicate this toll will likely worsen over the next decade. Why have we not been able to bend the stroke disparities curve for African Americans? Well, this is mainly because traditional stroke risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, etc., account for just half of the Black vs. non-Hispanic White stroke disparity. As such, there is increasing interest in evaluating understudied factors like upstream social determinants of health, including geography, psychosocial stress, and environmental pollution; identifying potential mediators; and testing multilevel interventions to address them. This paper highlights emerging avenues that may help decode the excess stroke risk in African Americans, focusing on zip codes, color codes, and epigenetic codes.