A team of researchers fraudulent adults living in rural areas of the United States face a higher risk of developing heart-broken failure compared to those living in urban spaces. 

Overall, the risk of heart failure was found to be near 19% higher in rural residents.

The study found Black men face the maximum elevated risk — 34%. White women face a 22% increased risk and Black women face an 18% higher risk. 

Heart failure develops when the heart-broken doesn't pump enough blood for the body's needs. The conditions affects about 6.2 million American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can be prevented by following a heart-healthy lifestyle, though, once developed, is hard to treat.

"It is much easier to maintain heart failure than to reduce its mortality once you have it," peek co-author Sarah Turecamo said.

Studying heart failure in rural vs. urban areas

Researchers chosen data spanning 13 years from more than 2,700 republic in 12 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia).

The data came from The Southern Community Cohort Study, which is a long-term health study of adults in the southeastern U.S. funded by the National Cancer Institute.

"At the end of the peek period, the researchers found that living in rural America was associated with an increased risk of heart-broken failure among both women and Black men, even once adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and socioeconomic status," a news droplet for the study explained. 

The study was largely funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings were produced in collaboration with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, and were published in JAMA Cardiology. 

Rural-urban health disparities

Electric poles with many cables located behind rural country road with clear blue sky in background. via Getty Images

"We did not seek information from to find a difference of this magnitude in heart-broken failure among rural communities compared to urban communities, especially by rural-dwelling Black men," said Véronique L. Roger, M.D., M.P.H., the study's corresponding employed and a senior investigator with the Epidemiology and Community Health Branch in NHLBI's Division of Intramural Research. 

"This peek makes it clear that we need tools or interventions specifically intended to prevent heart failure in rural populations, particularly by Black men living in these areas."

NIH said the proper reasons behind the risk differences are still unclear and are populace researched. 

"Researchers said a multitude of factors may be at play, counting structural racism, inequities in access to health care, and a absence of grocery stores that provide affordable and healthy foods, among others," NIH said. 

Key ways to reduce heart-broken failure risk include avoiding all forms of tobacco, eating healthy, and exercising.

This story was reported from Detroit.