Ischemic Heart Disease in German Immigrants and Their Descendants in a Region of Southern Brazil: A Comparison of Initial Symptoms Reported between two Generations

Abstract Background Nothing is known about ischemic heart disease (IHD) in the Germans who emigrated to Brazil during the last century. Objective We sought to compare age at diagnosis and IHD manifestations between German immigrants and their first-generation descendants in the region of Blumenau, Brazil. Methods We reviewed medical records of hospitals in Blumenau. Comparison of the groups in the evaluation times was made by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, and comparison of two factors was made by two-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at p <0.05. Results Study population comprised 68 patients who were born in Germany (group G) and 99 descendants (group D). Twenty-nine patients of group D had two German parents and 70 had one. Mean age at diagnosis was 66.8 ± 10.6 years, with a significant difference between the groups, four years higher in Group G than group D (69.0 ± 8.8 vs 65.4 ± 11.5 years old) (p = 0.025). There was no significant difference in risk factors or coronary angiography data between the groups. HDL cholesterol levels were significantly higher in group G than in group D (48.4 ± 11.1 mg/dL vs 43.3 ± 11.2 mg/dL, p = 0.005). Conclusion At the time of first IHD diagnosis, mean age of the group G was significantly higher than group D, with no differences between groups in sex, risk factors, LDL levels, or clinical and angiographic manifestations. An earlier manifestation of the disease could be part of lifestyle changes in descendants, in this population that mantained eating habits characterized by high saturated fat consumption.

The American Turners: their past and present / O American Turner: seu passado e seu presente / El Turner Americano: su pasado y su presente

The United States has been a nation of immigrants, which is reflected by its multicultural society. Different immigrant groups helped shape the American society through their cultures and traditions. One group was the Germans; they represented a unique and forceful current in the stream of immigration to the United States. In their cultural luggage the German immigrant brought their physical culture to North America, Turnen which was organised in clubs or so-called Turnvereine. The American turner movement has its origin in the mid 19th century, and it is still organised on a national level, since the 1930s under the name American Turners. This article summarises the history of the German-American turner movement until the 1990s, and will also relate to various stages of Americanization within this movement.

Os Estados Unidos se constituíram como uma nação de imigrantes, portanto, uma sociedade multicultural. Diferentes grupos de imigrantes ajudaram a moldar a sociedade americana através de suas culturas e tradições. Um destes grupos foi o dos alemães, que representou uma corrente singular e muito forte no fluxo imigratório para os Estados Unidos. Em sua bagagem cultural os imigrantes alemães levaram sua cultura física para a América do Norte: o Turnen, que era organizado em clubes ou nas denominadas Turnvereine. O movimento dos Turner americanos tem suas origens em meados do século XIX e ainda apresenta uma organização em nível nacional sob o nome American Turners, adotado desde a década de 1930. Este artigo resume a história do movimento do Turnen teuto-americano até os anos de 1990 e relata as diferentes etapas de sua americanização.

Los Estados Unidos se constituyeron como una nación de inmigrantes, lo que serefleja actualmente en su sociedad multicultural. Diferentes grupos de inmigrantes ayudarona dar forma a una sociedad americana a través de sus culturas y tradiciones. Uno de estosgrupos fueron los alemanes, que representaron una corriente singular y muy fuerte en el flujoinmigratorio para los Estados Unidos. En su bagaje cultural los inmigrantes alemanes llevaronsu cultura física para Amércia del Norte: el Turnen, que era organizado en clubes o en las deno-minadas Turnvereine. El movimiento de los Turner americanos tiene sus orígenes a mediados delsiglo XIX y todavía presenta una organización a nivel nacional bajo el nombre American Turners,adoptado desde la década de 1930. Este artículo resume la histórica del movimiento del Turnenteuto-americano hasta los a˜nos de 1990 y relata las diferentes etapas de su americanización.