Mexican-Americans and Heart Disease

Researchers in the Corpus Christi Heart Project (CCHP) have found that Mexican-Americans have an equal or higher rate of coronary heart disease mortality than non-Hispanic whites disputing prior impressions of lower rates of mortality among this group.

Dilip K. Pandey, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology at The University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, says, "This is the first report to document excessive heart attack deaths for Mexican-Americans when compared to non-Hispanic whites. It refutes prior research which suggested that Mexican-Americans actually had a lower death rate from heart attacks than non-Hispanic whites."

The prior impression was based on the vital statistics data alone. "We now address community-wide coronary heart disease mortality in these two groups based on combined in-hospital and out-of-hospital deaths. Mexican-Americans experience at least equal (for men) or higher (for women) coronary heart disease mortality than non-Hispanic whites. These findings are consistent with the risk profile of Mexican-Americans especially because of the greater prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity among Mexican-Americans.

- From The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center

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Courtesy of Texas Medical Center News

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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