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Review: Diabetes and cardiac disease in South AsiansDepartment of Diabetes, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, G4 0SF, UK, neel64{at}hotmail.com
Division of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, G4 0SF, UK
Department of Diabetes, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, G4 0SF, UK South Asians have a higher prevalence of diabetes, coronary heart disease and cardiovascular death. Their predisposition to insulin resistance partly explains this excess risk. After immigration, the adoption of a western diet allied to increased sedentary behaviour leads to weight gain, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, factors which in turn combine to amplify the chances of getting heart disease. Further contributory factors are increased sub-clinical inflammation, increased thrombogenic tendency and higher serum homocysteine levels. South Asians with diabetes might do as well as White people with respect to intensive glycaemic and blood pressure control. However, there is little evidence for measures to reduce cardiovascular risk as South Asians have not been included as a subgroup in most large trials. Future prospective studies, including studies on the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in this high-risk population, are therefore urgently required.
Key Words: diabetes South Asians cardiovascular risk.
The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease, Vol. 5, No. 5,
253-259 (2005) |
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