Hispanic Health Report 2015: Cancer & Heart Disease the Leading Cause of Death Among Hispanics

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The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a national health study on Hispanics for the first time. The study focused on Hispanics' health risks as well as causes of death and access to health services, reports Here and Now.

According to CNN, Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC director, announced the results of the national study saying that the CDC health report offered both good and bad news.  

In the report, the CDC writes, "Hispanics were on average nearly 15 years younger than whites." In addition, Hispanics showed a lower all-cause death rate by 24 percent as well as lower death rates for nine out of 15 leading causes of death compared with non-Hispanic whites. Cancer and heart disease were the two leading causes of death in Hispanics. 

The good news is that Hispanics "fare better" overall health-wise when compared to non-Hispanic whites, reports CNN. The report adds that Hispanic health is better overall despite the fact that they suffer from various socioeconomic burdens like poverty rates, language barriers, and a lower number of insured individuals.  

According to the CDC report, 41.5 percent of Hispanics do not have health insurance while 15.5 percent either denied or delayed medical attention due to cost concerns. In addition, the report states that one out of four Hispanics live below the poverty line while one out of three Hispanics have limited English proficiency.  

However, Hispanics showed a high death rate in terms of diabetes, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, essential hypertension, hypertensive renal disease, and homicide, states the CDC report. CNN states that Hispanics are "50 percent more likely to die from diabetes and chronic liver disease than their non-Hispanic counterparts." 

The higher death rate due to chronic liver disease may be caused by the higher rates of diabetes and obesity in Hispanics, says the lead author of the study, Dr. Ken Dominguez, MPH. While there is no evidence to prove Dominguez's thoughts, he says, "We know diabetes and obesity can lead to liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer and when you put that all together this may be helping increase [Hispanic] cancer rates." 

According to the CDC report, smoking made a bit of a difference when it came to the overall health of Hispanics. US-born Hispanics tended to smoke more than their foreign-born counterparts. As a result, US-born Hispanics had a higher risk of obesity, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer.