title: The Hispanic paradox in cardiovascular disease and total mortality.
abstract: Health statistics and epidemiologic studies have shown that Hispanics live longer than Non Hispanic Whites, despite a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and an average low socioeconomic status, both strong predictors of CVD and mortality. This phenomenon has been dubbed "The Hispanic paradox" and has been demonstrated in old and contemporary cohorts. To date, no factor has been identified that could explain this phenomenon, but socio demographic factors, dietary intake and genetic predisposition have been proposed as possible explanations for the Hispanic paradox. As with the French paradox, where French were found to have a lower rate of coronary heart disease (CHD), helped to identify the role of the Mediterranean diet and wine consumption in the prevention of CHD, the Hispanic paradox could help identify protective factors against CHD. This article describes the current evidence supporting the existence of the Hispanic paradox and provides a brief review on the possible explanations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, 200 First Street S.W. Rochester, MN 55905. Electronic address: medinainojosa.jose@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Medina-Inojosa
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, 200 First Street S.W. Rochester, MN 55905. Electronic address: jean.nathalie@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jean
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA. Electronic address: merycortesb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mery
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortes-Bergoderi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, 200 First Street S.W. Rochester, MN 55905. Electronic address: lopez@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopez-Jimenez
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000208:ethnology*; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: AA; African Americans; CHD; CVD; Cardiovascular disease; Coronary heart disease; Ethnicity; Hispanic; Latino; Mortality; NHW; PA; Risk factors; US; United States; cardiovascular disease; non Hispanic whites; physical activity