HHS HealthBeat (February 17, 2010)

Differences in the heart

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Hispanics are not all alike. Researcher Carlos Rodriguez of Columbia University Medical Center saw differences between Hispanics of Caribbean origin and those of Mexican origin, as well as non-Hispanic whites.

Mexican-origin Hispanics were more likely to have diabetes, and Caribbean-origin Hispanics were more likely to have high blood pressure.

Rodriguez also found something in images of the hearts of Caribbean-origin Hispanics:

[Carlos Rodriguez speaks] ``They had a higher prevalence of enlarged hearts than non-Hispanic whites, and this was a dramatic finding.’’

But Rodriguez says Hispanics in general, like other people, can work on lowering risk factors through diet and exercise.

The study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011