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• New Orleans hospital notes 3-fold increase in heart attacks after Katrina 

Stress following Hurricane Katrina may still be causing heart attacks years after the storm slammed Louisiana, according to a new study.

Doctors at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic found there was a threefold increase in the rate of heart attacks treated at the hospital since the August 2005 storm. . . .

Irimpen, a cardiologist, said he suggested the study because he was being called in much more often to treat heart attacks at Tulane. He said a contributing factor may be the bad habits that increase under stress, such as smoking, substance abuse and failing to take prescribed medicines.

"We've seen patients who had quit smoking and started again, patients who were exercising and say they haven't exercised since Katrina," Lavie said.

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