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Assessing heart health in immigrants

September 3, 2015

Dr. Jack Tu, a scientist in the Schulich Heart Research Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute, discusses the results of his latest study examining the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke among immigrants to Canada. The study used data from the Citizenship and Immigration Canada permanent resident database and nine population-health databases to assess risk factors and incidence rates of major cardiovascular events in more than 800,000 first-generation immigrant adults who settled in Ontario.

Tu and his team found evidence for the so-called “healthy immigrant effect”—recent immigrants have a 30% lower rate of major heart problems compared with long-term Canadian residents. Long-term was defined as people born in Canada or who migrated before 1985. This effect diminishes the more time newcomers spend in Canada. Among ethnic groups, the researchers also found differences in cardiovascular risk. East Asians had the lowest incidence of major heart problems while South Asians had the highest.

These findings highlight the importance of taking ethnicity and culture into consideration when assessing risk of heart disease and designing prevention strategies.

» Read the full story in the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail

» Read more about Dr. Tu’s research on improving heart outcomes

Jack Tu