THURSDAY, May 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) — South Asians in the United States have increased proportional mortality rates from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), although there are no unique risk factors in this population, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association published online May 24 in Circulation.
Annabelle Santos Volgman, M.D., from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and colleagues address the prevalence of and risk factors associated with ASCVD among South Asians in the United States. South Asians represent one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States.
The researchers note that in contrast to the finding that Asian Americans aggregated as a group are at lower risk of ASCVD (largely due to the lower risk in East Asian populations), South Asians have higher proportional mortality rates from ASCVD compared with other Asian groups and non-Hispanic whites. Based on a review of the current literature relevant to South Asian populations, the biology of ASCVD is no different in South Asians than any other racial/ethnic group. Most of the risk in South Asians can be explained by the increased prevalence of known risk factors, including those related to insulin resistance. In this population, no unique risk factors have been found.
“This scientific statement focuses on how ASCVD risk factors affect the South Asian population to make recommendations for clinical strategies to reduce disease and for directions for future research to reduce ASCVD in this population,” the authors write.