Diagnosing the Needs of Latino Patients : Health care: Doctors say conditions such as diabetes and depression are less likely to be treated because of fatalism, lifestyle and lack of medical coverage.

Latinos continue to suffer needlessly from preventable diseases such as diabetes and depression because they don’t seek treatment, doctors said at a conference Saturday.

Diabetes and depression were two of the illnesses examined by the more than 100 doctors who attended the third annual Hispanic Health Initiative Symposium at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club. The event was designed to educate physicians about high-risk diseases in the Latino community.

“We must educate Latinos about preventive health,” said Dr. Rene Rodriguez, president of the Inter-American College of Physicians and Surgeons. “And we must teach doctors who don’t know our culture how to recognize the hidden symptoms so there aren’t so many misdiagnoses.”

Latinos are three to five times more likely to suffer from diabetes than other people in the United States, doctors say, but they are far less likely to seek treatment.

A genetic predisposition toward developing the disease combined with a high-fat diet and insufficient exercise are to blame, said Dr. Jaime Davidson of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The reason for the genetic tendency is unknown, he said.

“The real tragedy is that this disease, if caught in the early stages, is totally preventable,” he said. “Yet, so many Latinos have such a fatalistic view of disease that they do not go to the doctor until it is too late.”

Davidson said 50% of diabetes cases are treatable at the early stages. If allowed to progress, however, the disease can lead to blindness, kidney failure, loss of limbs and death.

Another reason behind the more than 1 million Latinos who suffer from diabetes, said Davidson, is a lack of access to health care. Latinos are three times more likely to be uninsured than other people, he said.

Although Latinos are no more likely to suffer from depression than other people, they are far less likely to seek psychiatric help, said Dr. Rodrigo Munoz, from UC San Diego. “The stigma against mental illness is alive and well in the Latino community,” he said. “So you may go to the doctor and complain of a headache or a stomachache, but you do not say you are depressed.”

Many doctors unfamiliar with Latino culture, Munoz said, fail to look beyond the physical symptoms associated with depression for the real problem.

Gastrointestinal disorders and respiratory infections also were discussed at the symposium, which was sponsored by the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company.