In a Lancet study report of a 2004 study it was estimated that 60 per cent Indians would be at risk of heart diseases by 2010. The lancet report released in April 2008 even said that it’s the younger generation in India who are facing the greatest threat

Dr Srinath K. Reddy one of the authors of this Lancet study and president of the Public Health Foundation of India said that the most noted point of interest of the study is that Indians get heart disease at a much earlier age than the rest of the world and many more die of it here because their illness will be more severe and they don’t get treatment in time.

Dr Reddy even said that “Not only more severe diseases, including heart attacks and unstable angina, were reported at a younger age in India but people here were also more likely to die within 30 days of a heart attack,”

This study was led by Denis Xavier of St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore. The aim of the study is to find out why Indians are at a greater risk i.e 60 per cent compared to 40 per cent in developed countries in the last report published in British Medical Journal research four years ago.

The data for the Lancet study was collected on nearly 21,000 coronary patients admitted in 89 hospitals across 50 cities in India. Although the risk factors — tobacco use, high levels of lipids in the blood due to diets rich in saturated fat and hypertension — are the same for Indians as others, heart diseases and deaths are more because people received medical attention late.

The study also came out with some frighteningly realistic figures that on an average it takes 5 hours for patients to reach a hospital in India, twice as long as in developed countries The reports said that traffic jams, lack of awareness about symptoms, long distances and consultation with family physicians contribute to the delay and the deaths being highest among the poor, being unable to get to hospital quickly or to afford treatment.

The study suggested that in order to reduce the disease burden Indians need to achieve quicker access to treatment and a major change in their lifestyle for example quitting tobacco use, exercising and eating healthy.

“This registry is a major milestone, since it provides the first comprehensive view of the epidemic of acute coronary syndrome in India and helps identify opportunities for improvement in care,” notes cardiologist Kim Eagle in a commentary, also published in the Lancet.

This major study and its findings will be a wake up call for many doctors and patients in India to realise that the real danger in the form of Ischemic heart disease is not anymore a old age problem and it is already emerging out as the most common killer disease among the younger Indians.