South Asians in Dubai Suffer the Most from Heart Disease

Meet Dr Anil Bansal, consultant interventional cardiologist in Dubai. He is an American Board Certified - Cardio Vascular Diseases, Nuclear Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology.

Dr. Anil Bansal

Consultant Interventional Cardiologist
Saudi German Hospital, Dubai

Genetics and lifestyle are the main culprits for heart disease

Dr Bansal believes expatriate Indians, Pakistanis, Bengali, Nepalese, Sri Lankans living in Dubai are more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases because of their genetic predisposition and lifestyle choices.

Dr Bansal goes on to say that South Asians love their ethnic foods however, most of them don’t share the same enthusiasm towards an active or exercise-driven lifestyle. According to Dr Bansal, most of his patients spend around 4 hours every day simply commuting, leaving them with very little energy or time to invest towards exercising, eating healthy and having a more balanced lifestyle.

Best Advice for South Asians:

Keep Body Mass Index (BMI) at 23

A person’s BMI is calculated as their weight divided by the square of their height in meters (kg/m²). For South Asians, they should keep their BMI lower than other expatriates in Dubai, at 23. 

Check Cholesterol

South Asians should should also periodically check their cholesterol and ensure that they maintain  "high density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol above 50 and low density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol below 70". 

No Sugar or Smoking

Dr Bansal explains that sugar is our body’s immediate source of energy and if not utilized fully, will be stored and translated into fat and weight gain respectively. Also, there should be zero tolerance to smoking. Even for casual smokers who might simply downplay their smoking habit as "one shisha a week", that still translates into 9 packs of cigarettes!

Walk! 

For people who can’t find the time to exercise every day, walking should be the next best alternative. The ideal amount of walking every day should be about 15,000 steps. Dr Anil suggests that we walk and even take the stairs up and down every chance we get.