Study: South Asians, Blacks In Canada Have Higher Risk Of Heart Disease

Ontario, Canada (AHN) - A new study by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario identifies several ethnic groups with a higher risk of heart disease.

According to the study, South Asians and blacks have thrice the risk of suffering from hypertension compared to the rest of the population. They are also likely to develop the ailment at a much younger age.

Dr. Sheldon Tobe, kidney specialist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and spokesperson of the foundation, explained, quoted by the Toronto Star, "Once they come over here and they put on a couple of inches around the middle, the metabolic triggers that were silent at home start turning on and getting them in trouble."

The high risk of these two ethnic groups was due to their genetic predisposition, lack of physical exercise and unhealthy eating habits.

The study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, had 2,551 respondents between the ages 20 to 79. It discovered 21 percent of Ontarians, or 1.5 million residents, have high blood pressure. But around a third are not aware they have the ailment.

Other major findings of the study include 50 percent of blacks develop hypertension when they reach their 40s and 50s, while only 20 percent of the Canadian population acquire the ailment at the same age bracket.

The rising level of awareness of having hypertension had resulted to a 15 percent decline in hypertension cases the past 10 years. Frans Leene, director of the hypertension unit at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, told the Globe and Mail, "Hypertension is not beaten but we're making significant progress."