"Why Blacks And Hispanics Are At Higher Risk Of Heart Disease" - Sheila Dougherty | Mount Sinai (2024)

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"Why Blacks And Hispanics Are At Higher Risk Of Heart Disease" - Sheila Dougherty | Mount Sinai? ›

Research suggests African-Americans may carry a gene that makes them more salt-sensitive, increasing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. African-Americans are disproportionately affected by obesity. Among non-Hispanic blacks 20 and older, 63 percent of men and 77 percent of women are overweight or obese.

Black adults experience higher burden of CV risk factors such as hypertension and obesity, and are more than twice as likely to die of CVD, relative to White adults. Similarly, American Indian individuals are 1.5 times as likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease, compared with the White population.

Black patients with familial hypercholesterolemia are at particularly high risk for ASCVD complications because of lifelong exposure to elevated levels of low‐density‐lipoprotein cholesterol.

– store fat differently than other ethnic groups in the U.S. In South Asians, fat gets concentrated on the liver, especially, and around abdominal organs, which "may be why there is so much diabetes, and possibly more cardiovascular disease," Kanaya said.

Compared with whites, African Americans have higher rates of hypertension and diabetes and have a disproportionately higher rate of complications. Rural and minority populations have historically had problems accessing care and are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of lower access to care .

Blacks had a significantly higher cardiovascular death rate compared with all other ethnic/racial groups (6.1% vs 3.9%, respectively; P=. 01). East Asians, South Asians, and Other Asians had significantly lower cardiovascular death rates of 1.8%, 1.9%, and 2.2%, respectively (all Asians combined, 2.1% vs 4.5%; P<.

Black adults are more likely than white adults to die from a heart attack. Asian adults are less likely than other groups to have coronary artery disease. But there are some differences by ethnicity. Asian Indian men, Filipino men and Filipino women have a higher risk compared with white people.

Men older than age 45 and women past menopause have the highest risk of a heart event. A family history of heart disease is a risk factor that you can't directly control but that you should be aware of.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, people aged 45 and over, and most race and Hispanic-origin groups (Table LCODRace and Table LCODAge [1]).

Asian Americans also have a high prevalence of the following conditions and risk factors: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, smoking, tuberculosis, and liver disease.

Why is heart disease more common in black communities? ›

Research suggests African-Americans may carry a gene that makes them more salt-sensitive, increasing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. African-Americans are disproportionately affected by obesity. Among non-Hispanic blacks 20 and older, 63 percent of men and 77 percent of women are overweight or obese.

African American individuals appear to have a better glycemic response to metformin when compared with European Americans. Further studies are needed to determine whether this translates to commensurate reductions in diabetes complications.

Differences in exposure to the environment and habits between blacks and whites have also been proposed to explain their differential prevalence of hypertension. Many potential reasons have been reported, such as socioeconomic status, dietary habits, social network, stress, and health behaviors.

Men older than age 45 and women past menopause have the highest risk of a heart event. A family history of heart disease is a risk factor that you can't directly control but that you should be aware of.

In 2019, the prevalence of heart disease increased with age, reported by 1.0% of adults aged 18–44, 3.6% of adults aged 45–54, 9.0% of adults aged 55–64, 14.3% of adults aged 65–74, and 24.2% of adults aged 75 and over.

Black people have disproportionately high rates of more severe high blood pressure and it develops earlier in life. Heart disease risk is also higher among Mexican American, American Indian, native Hawaiian and some Asian American people.