Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8 2509 participants. All statistical tests were considered significant at the 0.05 level. The SAS version 9.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina) and SPSS 18.0 were used for all statistical analyses, which were performed independently at Jackson Heart Study Coordinating Center (Jackson, Mississippi). 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Results In Table 1, the distribution of self-reported cardiovascular conditions of the JHS participants at baseline are presented. The JHS participants provided responses to the questions regarding whether they were told by a doctor that they had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attack, diabetes, kidney problems, or stroke. The highest number of high blood pressure diagnoses occurred with the older participants aged 65 and older. However, it is noteworthy that over 14.0% of the youngest age group 21–34 indicated that they were diagnosed with high blood pressure. High cholesterol diagnoses seem to occur more frequently in the over 65 year age group, with almost 4.0% of the youngest group, 21–34, also classified in this category. The rate of diabetes diagnoses was higher than the national average in the JHS participants over the age of 45. JHS participants aged 21–34 (4.8%) and 35–44 (7.3%) had a significant number who were diagnosed with diabetes. The largest group of diagnoses with kidney problems was the over 85 group (26.7%). However, the 21–34 age group (8.4%) surfaced as having a larger number of kidney problem diagnoses than participants 35–74. Only the 75–84 age group with 9.9% of the cases was higher than the 21–34 age group, with the exception of the over 85 age category with its 26.7%. The diagnosis of stroke appeared to occur with more frequency in the older age groups, with the over 85 group having the greatest representation (20.0%). A comparison of the diagnoses made by a doctor based on gender showed that females were more likely than males to have diagnoses in four of the six categories examined. Females were also more likely than males to have high blood pressure (58.3% to 49.7%), high cholesterol (28.8% to 25.6%), diabetes (18.4% to 15.3%), and kidney problems (5.6% to 4.3%). The male JHS participants had more diagnoses in the area of heart attacks (6.4% to 4.1%) and strokes (4.2% to 3.4%). We examined the diagnoses made by a doctor based on education level. Greater educational attainment seemed to translate into a lower degree of CVD related diagnoses. In every category of diagnoses, the JHS participants with the lowest level of education (< high school) experienced the greatest degree of medical issues, leading the way with blood pressure diagnoses of 70.8% and diabetes diagnoses of 26.2%. This group also had a stroke diagnosis rate of 8.4% compared to 1.9% for the participants who had a Bachelors degree and above and a heart attack rate of 9.3% compared to the 2.9% for the group with a Bachelors degree or above. In all of these disease categories, the data reveal that the amount of CVD related diagnoses occurs more frequently the lower one appears on the education level spectrum. Income level seems to have played a part in the distribution of the CVD-related diagnoses as reported by the JHS participants. In all of the disease categories, JHS participants in the lowest income levels reported a larger number of diagnoses of high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart problems, diabetes, kidney problems, and strokes. High cholesterol is the only illness category where all of the JHS participants seem to be affected more evenly.