Neighbors can help stroke survivors

Interesting article, with an upside and a downside, talks about how close-knit neighborhoods raise chances of stroke survival:

In fact, for each increase in what researchers call neighborhood "cohesion," such as seeing and talking with neighbors or being able to call on a neighbor for help, the odds of survival after a stroke increased 53 percent.

"This finding highlights the importance of positive neighborhood environments to health, particularly among the elderly," said lead researcher Cari Jo Clark, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

"Cohesive neighborhoods are potentially good for your health, particularly your risk of dying from stroke," she added. The effect is limited to helping to prevent mortality from stroke, not its occurrence in the first place, Clark said.

"But the protective effect of neighborhood cohesion was found only for whites, and not for blacks," she added.