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Recent Health Data indicates that the incidence of heart disease is increasing so fast that soon it may reach epidemic proportions. Given below are some of the revelation in this context.

	Asian Indians around the globe have the highest rate of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) despite the fact that nearly half of them are lifelong vegetarians. The death rates from CAD among overseas Asian Indians have been 50% to 300% higher than Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Japanese, irrespective of gender, religion or social class. Among those younger than 30 years of age, the CAD mortality among Asian Indians is 3 – fold higher than Whites in the United Kingdom (UK) and 10-fold higher than Chinese in Singapore.

	India is now in the middle of a CAD epidemic with over 10% of urban Indians having CAD, a rate similar to overseas Indians. During the past 3 decades, the average age of a first heart attack increased by 10 years in the U.S, but decreased by 10years in India. About 50% of all heart attacks among Asian Indian men occur under the age of 55 and 25% under the age of 40, unheard of in any other population. These data underscore the need for early aggressive and unconventional approaches for the prevention and treatment of CAD in this population.

	CAD is highly predictable, preventable and treatable. Over the past 30 years, CAD rates in most developed countries declined by 50%. During the same period, the CAD rates doubled in India. Indians are in double jeopardy from nature and nurture – nature having been provided by higher levels of lipoprotein (a), and nurture through an unhealthy lifestyle associated with affluence, urbanization and mechanization. Because of this genetic susceptibility, the adverse lifestyle such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes are markedly magnified.

	Over 1.4 million Indians need critical heart surgery annually. Currently about 55,000 surgeries are done, largely because the rest cannot afford it. They die a slow painful death.

	More than 1,50,000 children are born with congenital heart disease. Only about 5,000 manage to get treated mostly with sponsorships and government aid.

	Incidence of valvular heart disease requiring surgery is as much as CAD. But very few get the surgery done because of the phenomenally high cost of the artificial valves.