Indian population shows established risk factors of cardiovascular disease about 10 years earlier compared to western population. A recent study has found that young people in the age-group of 30 to 39 years show the exponential increase of risk for heart disease and diabetes.

The comparative study by AIIMS, Fortis group of hospitals in Delhi and Jaipur and Rajasthan University, which has been published in this week’s BMC Cardiovascular Disorders shows low prevalence of risk factors for heart disease among adolescents in Indian urban population. The prevalence increases by 20 to 29 years but there is a rapid escalation once people reach age group of 30-39.

In most of the indicators, the percentage of people showing increased risk factors has doubled or even tripled between the age of 20 and 29 compared with the 30-plus age-group.

“The study was conducted primarily on the established theory that Indians get heart diseases at an earlier age. The study showed how early is early. The data has revealed that the risk increases mostly between 25 and 35 years of age and by 40 the disease is almost well established,” said Dr Rajeev Gupta, principal investigator, who is the head of Medicine at Fortis Escorts Hospital in Jaipur.

The study has evaluated major risk factors like smoking or tobacco use, obesity, truncal obesity (waist-hip ratio), hypertension, lipid profile and glucose intolerance.

The study was conducted in 2,051 subjects selected randomly between the age-group of 15 and 39 years during 1999-2002. The study was conducted in Jaipur and New Delhi.“All risk factors have shown exponential increase in the 30 to 39 age-group. It is more than double compared to age-group of 20 to 29. The study clearly shows that intervention to keep heart disease and diabetes at bay have to be taken between 15 and 30 years because by 39 the disease sets in and nothing can be done to prevent it,” said Dr Anoop Misra, former HOD at Medicine at AIIMS, one of the co-researchers.

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