Abigail Bergman

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Vital Signs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 5 May 2015, www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hispanic-health/index.html.

The Hispanic Community is 50% more likely to die from diabetes

Hispanic people are also 50% more likely to die from liver disease
24% more Hispanic individuals have poor control of high blood pressure, but women are
two times as likely as men to get their high blood pressure under their control
The Hispanic Community is 23% more obese than the White community
Whether or not a Hispanic persons was born in the United States or in their native
country truly makes a difference.
Cancers leading from infections are more common in Hispanic individuals born in
another country.
Hispanic individuals living in another country, rather than the US, have almost as much
as half the heart disease than US living Hispanics.
Hispanics living in another country have about a 48% less chance of having cancer
Hispanics living in another country have about 45% higher cholesterol than US living
Hispanics.
Social aspects may also lead to better or worse health conditions based on where they
live, whether or not they have attended school, etc.
The top 3 leading causes of death in the Hispanic community is cancer, heart disease, and
unintentional injuries

The Hispanic community is more prone to illness and disease because every one out of four
Hispanic individuals live in poverty and are unable to get the proper health care that they
need, which leads to less education of health issues and living in poverty almost triples the
risk of infection.
 Abigail Bergman
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Team, Wellness. 9 Ways to Prevent Disease. Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic, 14 July 2016,

health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/04/9-ways-to-prevent-disease/.

One easy preventative measure is to just get screened for cancer. It will most likely come out
negative, but if it comes out positive, you could have just saved your life.
Cancer is most likely to be in non-Hispanic people but, when it does occur, the cancer is more
likely to be at a higher, more dangerous, stage.
Getting a Pap test can help screen for early detection and reduction of cervical cancer.
Preventative measures for illness and infection include, hand washing, proper hygiene,
disinfecting, etc.
Cover your mouth and your nose when you are sick so that you do not spread germs.
Keep your hands away from your mouth and eyes to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria
Getting vaccinated for influenza can help stop and prevent getting the flu during flu season
Watching food intake and making sure to eat a plethora of fruits and vegetables
Make sure to keep cholesterol levels in check and make sure it is at a healthy level
Keeping active can help to lower risk of heart disease and other deadly diseases
Quit smoking. Smoking can lead to many health problems such as lung cancer, popcorn lung,
mouth cancer, rotting of teeth and gums, etc
Making sure to keep up on check-up trips to the doctor could possibly save a life. Taking a trip
to the doctor could lead to findings of illness and disease that were unknown and could help
save a life

This article showed that most preventative measures are small and not very time consuming,
they can be done in little to time and they could possibly find an illness or disease that they
didnt know they had and it could possibly save their live.
 Abigail Bergman
ISM-Period 1

Juckett, Gregory. Caring for Latino Patients. American Family Physician, 1 Jan. 2013,

www.aafp.org/afp/2013/0101/p48.html.

Many people in the Hispanic Community use natural medicinal herbs and spices to prevent issues
such as arteriosclerosis, flatulence, and diarrhea.
They use Hot and Cold to refer to illness in the community
Some Hot illnesses are diaper rash, hypertension, mal de ojo (evil eye), and susto (soul loss)
Some Cold illnesses are menstrual cramps, pneumonia, frio de la matriz (decreased libido), and
headaches
The Hispanic community is very superstitious and they believe in luck and bad energy and things
that to the Americans would seem weird or unusual.
Hispanic people are also more prone to being obese than White people
When it comes to health care, they are very kind and respectful people if they are in the doctors or
the hospital.
Many Hispanic males usually dont go to the doctor or the hospital until they absolutely 100% have
to because they fear the cost of the medical bill and whether or not they can afford it, so they would
rather just treat it themselves for free rather than spend $500 on a doctors visit
Hispanic culture and American culture are two very different things
Many Hispanic traditions are weird and unusual to the American traditions but it is best not to judge
their culture
Depending on where the patient lives in South America, dictates their culture because Latinos and
Mexicans have similar, but very different cultures because of where the two countries are located.

This article really brings to life of the differences between cultures and the practices the Hispanic
community does differently from Americans or other cultures.