Beneficial Lifestyles Part III: Race And Ethnicity Factor Into Higher Health Risks

While there are a number of diseases that affect Americans every day, in some cases, higher health risks are prevalent in specific ethnic groups. That is not to say that everyone is prone to these identifiable diseases, but research shows for example, African-American’s tend to have a higher number of health risks with hypertension, Hispanics face health risks for Diabetes Mellitus Type II, and Caucasians with cardiovascular disease.

Laquita Shepherd, M.D. and Assistant Clinical Professor at Methodist Health System Family Practice and Sports Medicine in Texas, says that hypertension, “Tends to be more common and more severe in blacks. The reason for this is not completely understood, but the increased risk of the development of the disease is related to environmental and genetic factors, the importance of each of these has not been established.”

Important risk factors for hypertension among blacks include a lower socioeconomic status, an ingestion of a high sodium/low potassium diet, and poor maternal nutrition leading to low birth weight in the infant. Shepherd says that low birth weight has been associated with an increased risk of hypertension in adulthood, perhaps due in part to impaired renal growth, which is a result of poor economic status.

As for Hispanics and Diabetes Mellitus Type II, Shepherd alludes to a group of nurses that they studied for over 20 years, which found that there was an increased risk for developing diabetes among Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians.

“Therefore the likelihood of developing type 2 Diabetes is greater in certain ethnic groups, such as those of Hispanic descent,” Shepherd explains. “Type 2 Diabetes is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The lifetime risk of developing type 2 diabetes is five to 10 times higher in first-degree relatives like a sister, brother, son and daughter of the person with diabetes in comparison to a person with no family history of diabetes.”

She adds that obesity is the most important risk factor for diabetes, but genetic factors such as family history and ethnicity, physical inactivity and smoking are also important contributors to the risk of developing diabetes.

When it comes to cardiovascular disease in Caucasians, Shepherd says that in the United States, cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and peripheral vascular disease, is by far the leading cause of death.

“Although the CHD mortality rates have declined over the past four decades in the U.S.,” she says, “CHD remains responsible for about one-third of all deaths in individuals over age 35. Nearly half the decline is due to early diagnosis in conjunction with more aggressive treatment and medical therapies. The other half is attributable to favorable changes in risk factors, such as the decline in cigarette smoking, and aggressive management of blood pressure and cholesterol. In spite of this, it has been estimated that one-half of all middle-aged men and one-third of middle-aged women in the U.S. will develop some manifestation of CHD.”

The majority of known risk factors for cardiovascular disease are preventable, and adults should eat a healthy diet that includes: A high intake of fruits and vegetables, high fiber, such as cereals, low glycemic index, and low glycemic load, monounsaturated fat, limited intake of red or processed meats, and Omega-3 fatty acids from fish, fish oil supplements or plant sources.

Lifestyles that can lead to CVD include smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol and triglycerides, physical inactivity, obesity, and alcohol use.

In all groups Shepherd concludes “There are [many] genetic factors, which are not modifiable. A person should consult with his or her primary care provider on a regular basis for appropriate identification of risk, monitoring, examination, and treatment to decrease the risk of development of any of these diseases.”