Published: December 17, 2024

AHA News' most-read health equity stories of 2024

By ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ News

melitas/iStock via Getty Images
(melitas/iStock via Getty Images)

Women's health and rural health were among the most popular health equity topics covered by ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ News this year. Here are the top 5 stories readers were most interested in, ranked in order of page views:

1. The slowly evolving truth about heart disease and women

For most of the 20th century, heart disease was considered a man's disease. While research over the past several decades has shown it to be as big a threat – if not bigger – to women, prevention, diagnostic and treatment gaps remain.

2. 7 things to know about how stroke is different for women

Stroke risks, symptoms and outcomes are not always the same for women and men.

3. They're not doctors. But they're on the front lines against West Virginia's health struggles.

West Virginia has some of the highest rates of chronic illness in the nation, with doctors and hospitals few and far between. Community health workers fill that gap.

4. What is health equity? How the idea grew – and why it matters

The term has taken off in recent decades, but the concept of health equity and the issues that make it important go back decades.

5. High blood pressure before 35 may triple Black women's stroke risk

Black women treated for hypertension earlier in life face double or triple the risk for having a stroke, new research suggests.

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