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Chinese people have the most favorable cardiovascular risk profile,followed by White, South Asians and then Blacks according to the studypresented. Moreover, diabetes occurred earlier in South Asian men and women,and Black women than in people of White or Chinese origin. A similarracial-ethnic gradient was observed in the prevalence of heart disease (3.2per cent in Chinese to a high of 5.2 per cent in South Asians) and stroke (0.6per cent in Chinese to a high of 1.7 per cent in South Asians).
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"Cardiovascular disease is a global health problem and even though Chinese,South Asians and Blacks represent approximately 60 per cent of the world'spopulation and contribute significantly to the global burden of this disease,most of our knowledge about cardiovascular risk is derived from Whitepopulations," said Maria Chiu, Doctoral Research Fellow, Institute forClinical Evaluation Sciences, Toronto, Canada. "The data generated by ourstudy will be invaluable for designing evidence-based prevention programs andfor planning health services in an increasingly multi-ethnic world."
The population-based study compared cardiovascular risk factors anddiseases of some 163,797 participants (154,653 White, 3,038 Chinese, 3,364South Asian, 2,742 Black) in Statistics Canada's National Population HealthSurvey and Canadian Community Health Surveys between 1996 and 2007. Directage-sex standardized methods were used to estimate ethnic-specific prevalenceof eight cardiovascular risk factors, heart disease and stroke.
About the World Congress of Cardiology
The World Congress of Cardiology Scientific Sessions is the officialcongress of the World Heart Federation and is held every two years. Throughthe Congress the World Heart Federation offers an international stage for thelatest developments in science and public outreach in the field ofcardiovascular health. The World Congress of Cardiology places emphasis on thecomplementary nature of science and public outreach and strives to spread themessage that through individual, community and patient-care interventions, thegrowing epidemic of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented.http://www.worldcardiocongress.org
About the World Heart Federation
The World Heart Federation is dedicated to leading the global fightagainst heart disease and stroke with a focus on low- and middle-incomecountries via a united community of more than 200 member organizations. Withits members, the World Heart Federation works to build global commitment toaddressing cardiovascular health at the policy level, generates and exchangesideas, shares best practice, advances scientific knowledge and promotesknowledge transfer to tackle cardiovascular disease - the world's number onekiller. It is a growing membership organization that brings together thestrength of medical societies and heart foundations from more than 100countries. Through our collective efforts we can help people all over theworld to lead longer and better heart-healthy lives. For more information,please visit http://www.worldheart.org
SOURCE World Heart Federation
