Individuals with South Asian ancestry have an increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascu- lar disease (CVD) compared with those with European ancestry, according to a study pub- lished in Circulation. Researchers examined 8,124 middle-aged participants of South Asian ancestry and 449,349 of European ancestry with- in the UK Biobank prospective cohort study who were free of atherosclerotic CVD at the time of enrollment. They found that 6.8% of individuals of South Asian ancestry and 4.4% of individuals of European ancestry experi- enced an atherosclerotic CVD event during a median follow-up of 11 years, corresponding to an aHR of 2.03. This higher relative risk was generally consistent across age, sex, and clini- cal subgroups. The predicted 10-year risk for CVD based on the American Heart Association/ American College of Cardiology Pooled Cohort equations and QRISK3 equations was almost identical for individuals of South Asian and European ancestry, despite the higher observed risk. The observed HR was modestly attenuated to 1.45 after adjustment for a broad range of clin- ical, anthropometric, and lifestyle risk factors. “Intensive control of risk factors like high choles- terol and type 2 diabetes are even more import- ant in this population,” the study authors wrote.
