Is Heart Disease More Prevalent In Hispanics Living In The U.S.?

— -- Question: Is Heart Disease More Prevalent In Hispanics Living In The U.S.?

Answer: Well, the answer to this is not quite so simple. The answer today is that, in general, as we've measured the cardiovascular disease in Hispanics in this country and those primarily from Mexican origin, the cardiovascular disease rates are not higher than other race and ethnic groups. But there's some real concern that we may be looking at a big epidemic of cardiovascular disease in the future in people of Hispanic origin. Primarily because today the obesity rates are rising fast, and the rates of diabetes tend to be higher than in white Americans. And so if we extrapolate this out a few years, we might anticipate a wave of increased cardiovascular disease in the Hispanic community in the United States in the years to come.

So it's time to begin acting now to have good health programs that reach out to the Hispanic community. And if you're of Hispanic origin, it's important that you know your risk factors now. Keep your body weight in a good range, have good physical activity and good diet. And know your numbers, know your cholesterol, know your blood pressure, and know your glucose level. So let's protect ourselves for the future and begin working on this now.

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