March 5, 2007 (Temuco, Chile) – A new analysis of the Latin American countries participating in the INTERHEART study shows that, in contrast to other areas of the world, abdominal obesity was the most important population-attributable risk (PAR) factor for acute MI [1]. Dr Fernando Lanas (Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile) and colleagues report their findings in the March 7, 2007 issue of Circulation, which has a Latin American theme.
A second paper in the same issue comes to a similar conclusion--abdominal obesity and smoking were the two leading PARs for MI among Hispanic Americans living in Costa Rica with no history of diabetes, hypertension, or medical therapy [2].
"These two articles call attention to the major problems of increased cardiovascular risk in Latin America, which is a cause for concern," accompanying editorialist Dr Sidney C Smith (University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill) told heartwire. The studies provides valuable insight into the risk factors for MI and emphasize "the need for major lifestyle and behavioral modification [there] if the growing toll of coronary heart disease is to be reversed," he comments in his editorial [3].
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553152?rss
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