In a new study published in the Journal of American Heart Association, scientists and researchers have discovered that black women are more prone to contracting serious heart diseases brought about my metabolic syndrome than white women or Caucasians.
According to the researchers from the University Hospital Gentofte in Denmark, in the period of the study (13 years), at least 14,000 American women ages 50 to 79 were enrolled in the study. The participants consisted of around 47% white women, 36% black women and 17% Hispanic women.
Metabolic Syndrome is a spectrum of conditions consisting of increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, increased fat around the waist and increased cholesterol levels. When these occur together, they have increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, Mayo Clinic reports.
The researchers incurred the findings that during the period of the study, around 1,100 women had heart disease or stroke for the first time. Yet, there were variations in the rate of occurrence of metabolic syndrome in white and black women.
"It appeared that the cardiovascular disease risk was elevated in black women by the presence of only two or three metabolic abnormalities to a degree that would require four or more metabolic abnormalities among white women," says Dr. Michelle Schmiegelow, author of the study.
The researchers found that among black women with two to three metabolic risk factors, the risk of cardiovascular disease have increased by 117% in those that were obese and increased by 77% in women who are overweight, reports Medical News Today.
That was not the case for white women with two to three risk factors. Even if they were overweight or obese, white women with the risk factors did not have a higher risk of heart disease compared to normal-weight women, WebMD reports.
"The cardiovascular disease risk was elevated in black women by the presence of only two or three metabolic abnormalities, to a degree that would require four or more metabolic abnormalities among white women," Schmiegelow said in a press release.
