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This week on Healthwatch, we're talking about diabetes. Diabetes can have many side effects. It significantly raises the risk for heart disease, especially in patients who are obese. People with Hispanic backgrounds have an even higher risk of heart problems associated with diabetes. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas are using new imaging techniques to study the way hearts are damaged by diabetes.

Dr. Lidia Szczepaniak, a UT Southwestern radiologist, is studying the way fat deposits in the heart affect the way the heart works. Research has shown that pre-diabetic Hispanic patients have more fat buildup in the heart, and that could lead to heart problems as diabetes develops. Understanding how these fat deposits damage the heart could lead to ways to prevent or treat the problem.

^{November 2005}

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