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South Asians Have Heart Attacks 10 Years Earlier
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South Asians have heart attacks five to 10 years younger than others, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The increased risk for heart disease is thought to be linked to unhealthy culturally-ingrained lifestyle habits.
South Asians make up about one-quarter of the world’s total population. It has been known for some time that this population is at higher risk of developing heart disease, and no genetic causes have yet been identified.
To better understand why South Asians are at higher risk of heart disease, researchers analyzed approximately 13,000 heart attack patients and over 12,000 healthy participants from various regions, including five South Asian countries.
People native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were found to be at greater risk of having a heart attack at a relatively young age compared to people from other populations. The average age of those who developed a heart attack, who were of south asian descent was 53 years. Contributing factors include a significantly lower daily intake of fresh fruit, vegetables, and moderate levels of alcohol, and less physical activity, compared with other countries.
South Asians were also found to have a greater prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, and psychosocial factors such as depression and stress.
The risks remained high even for native South Asians who had moved to North America. This is likely because unhealthy, culturally-ingrained behaviours such as smoking, physical inactivity, and eating a high-fat diet continue, and are passed down to younger generations.
The focus now is to motivate change among this group to improve modifiable risk factors. Lifestyle interventions, aimed at improving diet and exercise, and monitoring health can make a huge difference, even if there is a genetic component.
Communicating with new immigrants in a way that is culturally relevant may make a huge difference in reducing the risk of heart disease.
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