South Asians face higher heart risk, MD warns
March 15, 2008
Health Reporter
Dr. Shafiq Qaadri knows how to hook his audience: "About half of you here are going to die because of a heart attack or stroke."
He lets a silent pause sink into the room before adding that heart disease is treatable – and preventable.
Qaadri, a downtown family physician and MPP in the riding of Etobicoke North, believes heart disease is a threat to all Canadians, but especially to those of South Asian descent. That's why he devotes some of his spare time to speaking to GTA community groups about the importance of heart health.
"One of the saddest things as a family doctor is to get a call to go to the ER to see someone who is having a heart attack or stroke," says Qaadri.
"You're preoccupied with the immediate symptoms, but something in your brain whispers that if someone had sat this person down five years earlier and put the fear of God into them and told them how to change their lifestyle and to be compliant with medications, this heart attack could have been prevented."
Studies have shown people native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka can die from heart disease five to 10 years earlier than those from other ethnic groups.
Researchers are trying to figure out why South Asians are at high risk – primarily the interplay between a person's genetic makeup and their lifestyle – and develop better treatments and guidelines. But in the meantime, experts say it is imperative to raise awareness in the community. Dr. Vivian Rambihar, a cardiologist in Scarborough, is an advocate of what he calls "two minutes for heart."
The idea is to use social occasions for health promotion and he wants anyone with a microphone, whether they are a radio DJ, an emcee at a wedding or a moderator at a political function, to speak for at least two minutes about the importance of heart health.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario is also making efforts to get into the community.
Karima Kassam, a foundation community mission specialist for Peel Region and South Asian Communities, recently took educational materials to a youth cricket tournament in Peel.