Health / Race
THE HEART TRUTH FOR LATINAS-AFRICAN AMERICANS:
When you hear the term "heart disease," what’s your first reaction? Like many women, you may think, "That’s a man’s disease." But here’s The Heart Truth: Heart disease is the #1 killer of Latinas in the United States. Together with stroke, heart disease accounts for a third of all deaths among Latinas—cancer, the second-leading cause of death,accounts for about a fifth.Latinas also have high rates of some factors that increase the risk of developing heart disease, such as diabetes, overweight and obesity, and physical inactivity. But there’s good news too: You can take action and lower your chance of developing heart disease and its risk factors. In fact, women can lower their heart disease risk by as much as 82 percent just by leading a healthy lifestyle.
WHAT IS HEART DISEASE?Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease. Often referred to simply as "heart disease," it is a disorder of the blood vessels of the heart that can lead to a heart attack. It is a life long condition and will steadily worsen unless you make changes in your daily habits. Risk Factors for Heart Disease Lifestyle affects many of the "risk factors" for heart disease.Risk factors are conditions or habits that increase the chances of developing a disease or having it worsen. For heart disease, there are two types of risk factors—those you can’t change and those you can. The ones you can’t change are a family history of early heart disease and age,which for women is a risk factor at 55. That’s because,after menopause, women are more likely to get heart dis-ease. Partly, this is because their body no longer producesestrogen. Also, middle age is a time when women tend to develop other heart disease risk factors. But most of the heart disease risk factors can be controlled. Often, all it takes are lifestyle changes; sometimes, medication also is needed.
Here’s a quick review of these risk factors: Smoking. There’s no safe way to smoke. But quit and,just one year later, your heart disease risk will drop by more than half. It’s not easy to quit but make a plan and you can do it. Or, try an organized program or medica-tion—ask your doctor if either is right for you. High Blood Pressure. Also called hypertension, high blood pressure increases your risk of heart disease, stroke,and congestive heart failure. Even levels slightly above normal—called "prehypertension"—increase your heart disease risk. Lower blood pressure by following a heart healthy eating plan, including limiting your intake of salt and other forms of sodium, getting regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and, if you drink alcoholic beverages, doing so in moderation (not more than one drink a day). If you have high blood pressure, you also may need to take medication.
Statistics
African Americans and people of African descent in the United Kingdom have among the highest rates of hypertension of any race or ethnic type in the world.
- 35% of African Americans have hypertension, which accounts for 20% of the African American deaths in the United States - twice the percentage of deaths among whites from hypertension.
- Compared with whites, hypertension develops earlier in life and average blood pressures are much higher in African Americans.
- African Americans with high blood pressure have an 80% higher chance of dying from a stroke than in the general population.
- African Americans with high blood pressure have a 20% higher chance of developing heart disease than in the general population.
- African Americans with high blood pressure have a 4 times greater risk of developing hypertension related end stage kidney disease than the general population.
