An international study on heart disease covering 52 countries and 30,000 patients found that changing lifestyles and diet along with “harmful factors such as cholesterol and history of diabetes” cause heart attack 5-10 years earlier in India than elsewhere. The mean age of the first attack for South Asians was 53 compared to 59 for others.

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) said that South Asians have heart attacks at a much younger age compared to a sample population of other nations. In this study, respondents from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were compared to those from European and West Asian nations and United States of America. This study, which is part of a larger study called INTERHEART (International Heart Study), examined the cases of 1732 participants who suffered heart attacks and 2204 controls from 15 medical centers.

The experts studying this condition have asked for better awareness and education from childhood about the risks of heart disease which they say can be controlled. Interestingly, the study breaks the myth that this is a rich man’s disease by disclosing that 60% of participants were from lower and middle-income groups.

According to the study, the mean age for first heart attack among persons in South Asian countries was 53 years, while it was 59 years for those in other countries.