Bangladeshis suffer heart attack early

Bangladeshis suffer heart attacks at least 10 years before those in the West, says a new study.

The preliminary results of the study find presence of toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, copper and mercury in human blood that doubles the risk of heart attack in Bangladesh.

It was not clear how the chemicals found their way in the blood, but food adulteration and arsenic in water, widespread in Bangladesh, could be the cause.

The study also found a link between fish contaminated with formalin and other chemicals and heart attack, but suggested further study to firm the linkage.

The Cambridge University in UK, Dhaka-based research institution ICDDR,B and the Bangladesh National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) are jointly conducting the ongoing study, preliminary results of which are now available.

The study began in 2011 and 4,000 patients who suffered heart attack first time and as many healthy individuals have been analysed so far during the course of the study.

It will continue for another couple of years after which the final results will be announced.

But the Principal Investigator Dr Rajiv Chowdhury said the preliminary findings would likely be consistent with the final results.

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“Before the final results, the study would analyse those sampled by age groups, gender, socio-economic groups and place of residence,” Rajiv Chowdhury told bdnews24.com.

Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi cardiovascular scientist working at the
Cambridge University.

He said they found Bangladeshis on the average age suffered their first heart attack when they were 51 to 52 years of age.

But 40 percent of those who suffered heart attacks and were analysed for the study suffered their first heart attack when below 50 years of age.

“It means Bangladeshis are suffering from heart attack when still in their productive age,” he said.

He said a Cambridge study earlier found that people in Northern
America and the European Union suffered heart attack at the average age of 61 or 62.

Diabetes, increased blood pressure, fats in blood and smoking are factors that heightens the the general risk of heart attacks.

Surprisingly only 4 percent of them were obese, making researchers wonder about the link between obesity and heart attacks and whether that was tenable in Bangladesh.

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But a large number of Bangladeshis analysed for the study had high abdominal obesity –measured as high waist-to-hip ratio – that almost doubles the risk of heart attack compared to those with a smaller belly.

This implies that Bangladeshis who have a large amount of tummy fat are more likely to develop heart problems.

The study also found a general lack of physical activity among those analysed for the study. About 80 percent of all heart attack cases and 60 percent of all healthy participants were found to be tobacco users.

Bangladesh has some of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in South Asia, but remained one of the least studied.

The study was trying to establish the link whether this very high burden of disease might be due to “any additional or unrecognised factors."

The results show surprising findings in food habits pattern and its link to heart conditions.

It confirms the general perception of less risk of heart attacks in those who adhere to a “prudent” diet comprising of higher vegetables, fruits and lower carbohydrates and protein.

But it finds that those who consumed higher amounts of rice, sugar and fish were at higher risk of heart attack.

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Chowdhury said there had been evidences of link between rice or sugar and heart attack, but the surprising link with the fish has little to do with fish itself.

“This could be due to harmful toxic substances in fish like formalin,” he said.

He said a general “unhealthy cooking pattern” in Bangladesh like frying fish, use of excess oil and prolonged cooking may destroy the positive properties of fish.

But he suggested further study before any recommendations against fish intake as it was beyond the scope of the current study to examine the levels of toxic substances in fish and the effects of cooking to be able to hazard a definite conclusion.