DR ARUN KOCHAR finds that heart disease has a racial discriminatory bias, geographically

Heart disease is number one killer of mankind across the globe, albeit with geographical and racial inconsistency. It has been noticed that race and ethnicity do play a role in heart disease prevalence and some groups of people are at increased risk for heart disease and many do not respond well to certain treatments. Ppeople of Indian ethnicity have the highest rates of heart disease in the world, despite coming from a culture that shuns smoking, encourages a vegetarian diet and lacks many of the classic risk factors for the disease. According to new research, India could account for 60 per cent of heart disease cases worldwide in coming years and this will signify a huge burden on national healthcare amenities.

MECHANISM OF DISPARITY

Racial disparity of heart disease prevalence has been noticed in Indians living elsewhere also. The rate of heart disease is 40 per cent higher in Indians than that among the rest of Britain's population. In Trinidad, Indians have double the national average for heart disease, and in Singapore the risk for Indians is nearly four times than that of natives. In fact, scientific observation had been that certain races are more disposed to heart disease, obesity and diabetes than others. As a group, death rates of heart disease in African-Americans are 40 per cent higher than those of Caucasians. A low incidence of heart disease has been noticed among Mediterranean countries. Thus heart disease does have a racial discriminatory bias geographically.

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