Published: March 04, 2008
Why South Asians are More At Risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes
Latest research to be revealed at University of Leicester: Tuesday 11 March at 5.30pm
Latest research on why South Asians around the world are more susceptible to heart disease and diabetes is to be presented at the University of Leicester.
Professor Kamlesh Khunti, who went to school in Leicester and is now a Professor at the University of Leicester, will deliver his inaugural lecture: Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in South Asians: Nature, Nurture or Karma.
The lecture will be delivered on Tuesday March 11 at 5.30pm in the Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre. It is open to the public and free.
Professor Khunti, who is Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine in the University Department of Health Sciences, is engaged in an extensive programme of research into the issue of transcultural health.
He said: "Important minority ethnic populations in many countries worldwide are people of South Asian origin (originating from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka).
" In the UK South Asians are the largest minority group and comprise 4% of the population. It is estimated that 1 in 5 population of the world is of South Asian origin.
"A consistent finding in migrant South Asian populations is a higher prevalence of diabetes and a higher incidence and prevalence of premature coronary heart disease than the local populations. For example, in the UK, mortality from coronary heart disease is 50% of South Asian origin than in the general non-Asian population.
"The reasons for this increased risk are not well understood."
Professor Khunti's group has an extensive programme of work on the epidemiology of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, methods of early identification of high risk groups and interventional studies on prevention of diabetes and of complications in people with established diabetes.
Professor Khunti will present some of the ongoing work from the Diabetes Research Group's programme of work.
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