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Indians in UAE at higher risk of heart disease, finds study

Dubai - The next at risk nationality are Pakistanis, followed by Bangladeshis.

Indian expatriates in the UAE are at a higher risk of developing heart diseases and at a younger age compared globally, according to results from a clinical study released on Monday.
The next at risk nationality are Pakistanis, followed by Bangladeshis.
Experts from Aster Hospital, Dubai - that conducted the study - said that 142 patients who had undergone interventional procedures at the hospital's Cath lab were observed over a period of three months before the results were announced. The results conformed findings from another international study.
Data was also analysed across people from multiple ethnicities and age groups of South East Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines and it was found that most of them are at high risk for developing heart diseases in the prime years of their life.
"In fact, disease strikes South East Asians almost a decade earlier than their Western counterparts," said Dr Naveed Ahmed, specialist interventional cardiologist at Aster Hospital, Mankhool.
He said that coronary artery disease is now no more a disease of senior citizens. "We observed in the study that conventional coronary artery disease affects the young adults, causing early heart attacks among them. This deserves the most attention. It's a reminder that men should not ignore warning symptoms just because they are 'too young' to have heart disease," he said.
"In the study, we reviewed cases of nearly 142 patients who underwent surgical intervention at Aster Hospital due to CAD. About 57 per cent of them were in the age group of 45 to 60 years, followed by 31.7 per cent aged less than 45 years, 11.3 per cent belonging to the age group above 61 years and nearly 74.6 per cent were less than 55 years," said Dr Naveed.
"Patients from India and its neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh alone represented 88 per cent of the patients," he added.
Out of the total patients, 66.2 per cent were Indians, while 14.1 per cent were Pakistan nationals. The other nationalities included expats from Bangladesh, Philippines, UK and Egypt, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria and Serbia.
Dr Sachin Upadhyaya, specialist cardiologist who also worked behind the real-time clinical data from the Cath lab procedures said that risk factors such as smoking, hypertension and a pre-genetic disposal also led to heart disease as well as consuming fat laden junk food, and lack of physical activity.
"At all ages, hypertension is the most powerful single contributor to the CAD with 43 per cent of the patients in the study. While diabetes mellitus stands second for the disease among 39 per cent of the patients. Smoking proved to be another major cause with 20 per cent of patients being smokers and three per cent ex-smokers," Dr Upadhyaya elaborated.
"Our clinical data is a reminder that prevention should start early in life before problems develop," said Dr Upadhyaya.
"Many surveys conducted in India indicated that 40 per cent of the people suffering from heart attack are under the age of 55. But the figures are even more alarming for Indian expats living in the UAE as there is a steep rise in the numbers with two-thirds of the total number of patients. About 106 patients out of 142 people in the data analysed were under 55 years. This trend is indeed alarming," he cited.
Dr Sherbaz Bichu, CEO at Aster Hospitals Dubai, said: "We conducted the clinical study aimed at creating awareness among the expatriate population to take care of their heart health eventually leading to the wellbeing of their families, the nation and the economy."
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com