Many of us have heard of the Hispanic Health Paradox, the fact that U.S. Hispanics live longer and have better healthcare outcomes than non-Hispanic whites even though whites tend to have higher income and education levels which correlate with longer life expectancy. Unfortunately, that paradox does not hold up for cancer. There is no protective benefit in being Hispanic when it comes to cancer. Of particular concern is breast cancer since it is the most commonly diagnosed and leading cause of cancer deaths among Latinas. This statistic is a cause for concern but the more Latinas know about breast cancer prevention, early detection and treatment the greater likelihood that we will gain the upper hand on this disease.

A few weeks ago we released some research on Latina awareness of issues surrounding breast cancer as part of our commitment to the Passionate Pursuit of Prevention campaign being undertaken by Healthy Hispanic Living and its partners. We found that, overall, Latinas are less concerned about getting breast cancer than their non-Hispanic white cohorts.  Other issues such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure were more top-of-mind for them than the risk of getting breast cancer.  

We wanted to see if these lower levels of concern among Latinas also translated into fewer preventative behaviors and found some significant differences between Latinas and other ethnic groups as well as among different segments within the Latina community.

As part of our commitment to the Passionate Pursuit of Prevention campaign being undertaken by Healthy Hispanic Living and its partners, ThinkNow Research has been asking a nationally representative group of Latinas about issues related to breast cancer.  

Wealth and happiness. The consensus from current research appears to be that having wealth does not, in itself, increase happiness. Wealth can reduce some stress and anxiety but not increase happiness. It seems that happiness is not an end-state but a lens through which people view their world.

The CDC recently released its first national study on Hispanic health risks. The results reconfirmed the Hispanic health paradox - the fact that Hispanics live longer and had better health outcomes than whites for most analyzed health factors, despite facing worse socioeconomic barriers – but, the study also found that Hispanics had significantly higher prevalence and death rates from diabetes and chronic liver disease which is often associated diabetes.