Indians and Pakistani origin Scots are more likely to suffer heart attacks, according to a new study.
Indians and Pakistani origin Scots are more likely to suffer heart attacks, according to a new study.
The study led by Dr Raj Bhopal and Colin Fischbacher at the University of Edinburgh, however, noted that they are more likely to survive this trauma in comparison to their non-Asian countrymen.As part of the study, the researchers linked information on individual ethnic groups from the 2001 Census to Scottish hospital discharge and mortality data.
Researchers used a one-way encryption technique known as 'hashing', on the data, to preserve anonymity.
The study found that South Asian men had a 45 percent higher incidence of heart attack, and South Asian women an 80 percent higher chance in compariosn to the rest of the population.
The higher survival rate might be due to Asian communities preference for living in the inner cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, potentially enabling them to get to hospitals quickly. Increased awareness of heart disease amongst Asian populations might also be a factor.
The findings of the study appear in the online journal BMC Public Health.
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