Munaf Patel is an active husband and father. Despite the placement of a stent to unblock his artery, a quick recovery and watching what he ate, Patel had his second heart attack just eight months later. But a part of him knew to be vigilant about his health; Patel, who is Indian, has an extensive family history of heart disease that many South Asians share. His family represents the heightened risk carried by South Asians, who experts say are about four times more at risk for cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death in the U. As a young boy, Patel lost his father, who died in his 40s after a heart attack. Several other close relatives have had heart attacks at young ages, and one needed a heart transplant. Researchers continue to probe why it seems that, in the South Asian community, everyone knows someone who has had a heart attack. The alarming risk has prompted researchers to study South Asians in the long-term Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America study, known as Masala meaning spice blend, in part because medical guidelines physicians historically use come from data derived from white men. Yet South Asians, researchers say, often do not show some of the typical signs of cardiovascular disease and need their own guidelines.
Appointment New Patient Appointment. Call Us: Appointment New Patient Appointment or Call Appointment New Patient Appointment or This month, I attended the American College of Cardiology conference in New Orleans, where colleagues from around the world met to discuss research, present findings, and pool our knowledge to improve patient care. A major theme that arose was one of personal and professional importance to me: People living in the U. For the past few years, this concern has surfaced across a variety of health and media organizations. In , the updated cholesterol guidelines listed South Asian ethnicity as a recognized risk factor for heart diseases. UT Southwestern doctors participated in some of the analyses for this study. While MASALA data revealed many insights into the state of heart health among South Asians, the reason the risk is so high in this population has preventive cardiologists stumped.
Mahendra Agrawal never imagined he would have a heart attack. He followed a vegetarian diet, exercised regularly and maintained a healthy weight. His blood pressure and cholesterol levels were normal. But when Mr. Agrawal experienced shortness of breath in June , his wife urged him to go to a hospital. There, tests revealed that Mr. Agrawal, who was 63 at the time, had two obstructed coronary arteries choking off blood flow to his heart, requiring multiple stents to open them. Agrawal, who lives in San Jose and worked in the electronics industry. Despite his good habits, there was one important risk factor Mr. Agrawal could not control: his South Asian ancestry.