South Asians' high risk of cardiovascular disease has been hidden by a lack of data

居住在美国的南亚人.S. 比一般人更容易死于心脏病吗. But this risk has been largely hidden by a lack of data, researchers say.

来自孟加拉国的移民, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S.

“We’ve realized that South Asians are dying of heart disease a lot earlier than other ethnic groups, 这对他们的社区来说是毁灭性的,心脏病专家Dr. Annabelle Volgman, who led an expert group that on Thursday published a report(链接在新窗口中打开) 发表在杂志上的美国心脏协会的研究报告 Circulation.

大概有3个.目前有400万南亚人居住在美国.S. 截至2010年，根据美国的数据.S. 人口普查局. 尽管人数众多, the threats to South Asians’ cardiovascular health have been obscured because researchers have been looking at Asian-Americans as a monolithic group. 但是当单独检查时, South Asians have a higher risk of heart disease than other Asian groups, 尤其是来自中国的东亚人, 日本和韩国.

“We need to look at the different Asian groups within the Asian community so that we're not all lumped together,沃尔格曼说, 谁的家族来自菲律宾. “我们在心血管风险因素方面并不相同.”

It is not clear why South Asians are more prone to heart disease than other groups. While it is clear that cardiovascular disease can be passed down in families, researchers have yet to find a specific genetic cause that would make South Asians more at risk than other groups.

“We've observed the increased risk, but we are still looking for the smoking gun,” said Dr. 拉莎印度, an internist and clinical researcher who focuses on the gap in medical knowledge about Asian subgroups. 她与沃尔格曼共同主持了这份新报告.

虽然基因还不清楚, there are some conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease among South Asians. 一个关键的联系是年轻时患糖尿病的风险增加, 另一个是胆固醇异常. Because studies indicate that South Asians develop heart disease earlier in life than other groups, doctors are working to increase awareness among the South Asian community to get tested for signs of cardiovascular problems as early as possible.

“I think that accessing preventative health care has been less than optimal in South Asian populations because they aren't aware that they're at increased risk,帕拉尼亚潘说.

虽然心血管疾病可以遗传, 研究人员表示，很多风险可以通过改变生活方式来减轻, such as diet, 锻炼和避免吸烟. 锻炼尤其重要, 研究表明，南亚人比其他人群锻炼得少, and are also less aware of the connection between lack of exercise and heart disease. 饮食也是心脏健康的关键部分, 尽管许多南亚人是素食主义者, 他们的饮食中含有太多的脂肪, 糖和精制碳水化合物, 而且他们在美国生活的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽越长，这种倾向就越明显.S.

In the past, researchers saw a significant difference between South Asians living in their countries of origin, 谁比移民群体更活跃，饮食更健康. 但是现在来自美国的不良生活习惯.S. 正在返回亚洲.

“The same increased risk that we were observing in worldwide diaspora (scattered) populations we’re now seeing in India because India is becoming more Westernized in terms of a more sedentary lifestyle and less healthy food choices,帕拉尼亚潘说.

But researchers believe that these trends can be reversed with increased awareness. Now that they’re focused on the increased risk of heart disease in South Asians, researchers can target studies specifically to this group and physicians can work with their patients to address heart health at an earlier age.

“Because South Asians tend to have cardiovascular events at a younger age we really want to emphasize the need for more studies so that we don’t lose young mothers and fathers,沃尔格曼说.

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