A study released by the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress said the hearts of immigrants are at a higher risk due to stress caused by settling down in a new country.

Through an ultrasound, researchers from the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver compared the narrowing of artery of 618 Canadian residents, which included ethnic groups from China, Europe and South Asia. Of the 618 respondents, 460 were immigrants.

The study showed that most of the migrants who had lived longer in Canada had thicker arterial wall on their carotid artery, which brings blood to the head and neck and used to detect a person's pulse.

Dr. Scott Lear, lead author of the study and kinesiologist of Simon Fraser University, explained to Globe and Mail, "The speculation is that it might be the stress associated with coming to a new country, or the challenges faced by those individuals... Settling themselves down, finding a job, finding a place to live, establishing financial security and in that case, health can be secondary or even much lower down on the priority list."

But even native Canadians are now getting poor health reports. According to a study released Tuesday by the Conference Board of Canada, the country got a "B" rating only on overall health of population. The bases of the evaluation were 10 indicators, including: life expectancy, premature deaths, cancer mortality and deaths due to mental disorders and due to diabetes.

With its "B" rating, Canada was ranked 10th of 16 nations. Japan and Switzerland ranked first, the U.S. was 15th and Denmark placed 16th. Italy, Austria and Australia had higher rankings than Canada.