Diabetes poses additional heart risks for Hispanics

Years of living with high blood glucose levels puts these patients at risk for diabetic cardiomyopathy.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. April 24, 2006.

Washington -- By their sheer numbers, 40 million and growing, the nation's Hispanic population commands attention. The group has also attracted notice for an unfortunate reason -- its high diabetes rate.

Now, the prevalence of that disease is generating concern that many Hispanics will be stricken with another serious condition. Diabetic cardiomyopathy can result from years of living with high blood glucose levels, said Francisco J. Villarreal, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. He described the condition March 24 at the annual meeting of the National Hispanic Medical Assn., held in Washington, D.C.

Characterized by enlargement of the heart, diabetic cardiomyopathy may be caused by the growth of increasingly constricting fibrous tissue that surrounds the organ, Dr. Villarreal said. Long-term exposure to high blood glucose levels is thought to be the culprit behind the abnormal growth of this tissue.

The risk for Hispanics is particularly high. At least 15% of all adults in this population already have type 2 diabetes, and a significant number of Hispanic children and adolescents have developed or are at risk of developing the disease, according to the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.

Climbing rates of obesity are contributing to the disease's early onset, and concern is mounting over the harms to blood vessels, kidneys and eyes that can be caused by many years of living with diabetes.