New American Heart Association data reveals persistent heart attack risks and unequal care for Hispanic Americans
For years, public health data has pointed to what researchers call the “Hispanic paradox”: Latino adults in the United States tend to die from heart disease at lower rates than non-Hispanic whites, even while facing higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and metabolic risk. But new data from the American Heart Association (AHA) shows why that paradox should not be mistaken for protection.
According to the AHA’s 2025 statistical update, heart attacks still claimed the lives of 7,805 Hispanic adults in 2022—4,664 men and 3,141 women. Those numbers underscore a reality often lost in national conversations: lower mortality rates do not mean low risk, nor do they erase disparities in care.
The AHA reports that Hispanic and Latino adults are more likely than white adults to live with diabetes and metabolic syndrome—two major drivers of cardiovascular disease. Yet despite these higher risk profiles, Latinos are less likely to be diagnosed quickly or receive timely, guideline-recommended treatment during a heart attack. Research published in AHA journals has documented gaps in emergency response, diagnostic testing, and follow-up care affecting both Black and Hispanic patients.
“These disparities are not explained by biology alone,” the AHA has noted in its newsroom coverage. Structural barriers—language access, insurance gaps, delayed care-seeking, and underrepresentation in clinical research—continue to shape outcomes long after the ambulance arrives.
At the same time, researchers caution against oversimplifying the so-called Hispanic paradox. Factors such as younger average age, strong family networks, and lower smoking rates in some Latino subgroups may partially explain lower death rates, but those advantages can erode across generations, especially as chronic conditions rise.
The stakes are high. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, and Latino communities are aging rapidly. Without targeted prevention, culturally competent care, and earlier intervention for diabetes and high blood pressure, today’s statistical “paradox” could become tomorrow’s crisis.
The AHA and the federal Office of Minority Health both emphasize that prevention works: controlling blood sugar, managing blood pressure, improving diet, and ensuring equitable access to care save lives. But data alone is not enough. Closing the gap will require health systems to treat Latino patients not as anomalies in statistics, but as communities whose risks—and lives—deserve full attention.
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