Know why Indians suffer more from heart disease

According to a study from the Department of Cardiology and Radiology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Indians are more likely to develop coronary artery disease (heart disease) due to smaller body surface area.

The investigation, which involved 250 patients, was written up in the Journal of the Indian College of Cardiology. The findings run counter to the widespread belief that Indians experience more heart disease as a result of the narrow diameter of their arteries.

‘We found that 51 per cent were hypertensive, 18 per cent were diabetic, 4 per cent were smokers, 28 per cent were dyslipidemic, and 26 per cent had a family history of Heart Disease,’ Dr. JPS Sawhney, Chairman, Department of Cardiology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and lead author of the paper said.

Dr. Ashwani Mehta, author & senior consultant, Department of Cardiology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital added, ‘The study found that the mean vessel diameters for males were significantly larger than those for females, but when indexed to body surface area, these values are not significant. There had been an assumption that Asians and particularly Indians have an increased risk for atherosclerosis (fatty deposit in arteries) because of their small coronary artery diameters.’

However, it is demonstrated from the observational study that the Indian population’s tiny body surface area, not their coronary artery diameters, is to blame for this condition.

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The rationale for small dimensions of arteries being a risk factor for heart disease is not valid in the Indian population.

‘This study was done to estimate the size of normal coronary arteries in the Indian population, index it to BSA, and see if there is any significant difference when compared to the caucasian population. This study also might provide some insight into the use of diameters indexed to BSA as a cutoff for deciding the need for re-vascularization (a procedure that can restore blood flow in blocked arteries or veins),’ Dr. Bhuvnesh Kandpal, another author of the paper, added.