National Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15, but for Hispanic and Latino communities across the United States, the month also provides an opportunity to look at health issues that can affect families long after the celebrations end. One of them is cardiovascular health.

A new American Heart Association scientific statement published in September 2026 highlights the state of cardiovascular disease and stroke among Hispanic and Latino adults in the United States, emphasizing that this population is not one homogeneous group. Differences in ancestry, language, cultural practices, social conditions and access to care can all influence cardiovascular risk and health outcomes. The statement also notes that cardiometabolic risk factors are highly prevalent among Hispanic adults and can emerge at younger ages than among non-Hispanic White adults. The numbers make the issue difficult to overlook. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, cancer, heart disease, unintentional injuries, stroke and diabetes were the five leading causes of death among Hispanic/Latino people in 2023. More recent CDC data show that cancer, heart disease and unintentional injuries remained the leading causes of death among Hispanic people in 2024.

Heart disease risk is shaped by a combination of factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, physical inactivity and family history. The CDC identifies high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol among the key risk factors for heart disease, while genetics and family history can also influence a person’s risk. For Hispanic/Latino communities, the picture is complex. Current federal data show that Hispanic/Latino adults were less likely than U.S. adults overall to report coronary heart disease and high cholesterol in 2024, and their age-adjusted death rate from major cardiovascular disease was lower than the overall U.S. rate in 2022. Those statistics, however, do not mean cardiovascular health concerns can be dismissed. The American Heart Association’s 2026 statement points to a substantial burden of cardiometabolic risk factors and stresses the diversity within Hispanic and Latino populations.

Cholesterol is one part of that conversation. High cholesterol can contribute to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, increasing the risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke. Yet cholesterol is often a condition people cannot feel. A person may have elevated cholesterol for years without symptoms, making screening and conversations with a healthcare provider particularly important. The CDC says most healthy adults should have their cholesterol checked every four to six years, while people with conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or a family history of high cholesterol may need testing more frequently. Diabetes and high blood pressure add additional layers of cardiovascular risk. When these conditions occur together, they can increase the strain on the heart and blood vessels. The American Heart Association notes that cardiometabolic risk factors are prevalent among Hispanic adults and may appear earlier in life, reinforcing the importance of prevention and risk assessment before cardiovascular disease develops.

Prevention, however, does not happen in a vacuum. Access to healthcare, insurance coverage, language and health literacy can influence whether someone receives preventive screenings, understands their results and is able to follow a treatment plan. The Office of Minority Health reports that 17% of Hispanic/Latino adults were uninsured in 2024, compared with 8% of the total U.S. population. Among Hispanic/Latino adults ages 18 to 64, the CDC reports that 25.3% were uninsured in 2024. Language can also become part of the healthcare equation. The American Heart Association has identified language barriers, structural barriers and underrepresentation in the healthcare workforce among challenges affecting healthcare outcomes for Hispanic and Latino people. That makes communication an important component of cardiovascular prevention. A cholesterol number on a lab report is only useful if patients understand what it means, how it relates to their overall risk and what options they have for managing it. The same is true for blood pressure, blood sugar and other measures of cardiometabolic health. Risk assessment also cannot assume that every Hispanic or Latino patient has the same experience. The population includes people with roots across Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, South America and Spain, among other backgrounds, and the AHA’s new statement specifically emphasizes differences in genetic ancestry, language, culture and social conditions.

For patients, a heart-health conversation can begin with straightforward questions: What do my cholesterol numbers mean? How does my blood pressure affect my heart-health risk? Does my family history change how often I should be screened? Could diabetes or blood sugar levels affect my cardiovascular risk? And what steps should I take based on my individual risk factors? Those questions are not limited to Hispanic Heritage Month. They are part of an ongoing conversation about prevention, early detection and access to appropriate care.

The National Minority Quality Forum’s “There’s Levels to This” campaign focuses on making hyperlipidemia and cholesterol information easier to understand, including information about cholesterol numbers, medications, lifestyle changes, treatment adherence and navigating access to care. The campaign was developed with community input and is designed to help people better understand cardiovascular risk and have more informed conversations with healthcare providers.

As Hispanic Heritage Month gets underway, conversations about culture and community can also create space for conversations about health. Heart disease does not affect every Hispanic or Latino community in the same way, and neither should cardiovascular prevention be approached as though every patient has the same risks, circumstances or access to care. Understanding individual risk, asking questions and making preventive care accessible can help ensure that heart health remains part of the conversation beyond September 15th.