A new study has indicated that South Asian men and women have more than twice the risk of suffering a heart attack after a kidney transplant

The overall rate of heart attack, angioplasty, bypass surgery or death was 4.4 in South Asians compared with 1.31, 1.16 and 1.61 per 100 patient-years in Caucasians, blacks and East Asians, respectively. By three months after transplant, South Asians had almost twice as many heart attacks than Caucasians, blacks or East Asians. After 10 years, only 70% of South Asians were free of heart attack, angioplasty or bypass surgery compared with about 90% of Caucasian men and women. In Canada, South Asians make up 25% of visible minorities and an estimated 3% of Canadian patients with kidney disease. South Asians have documented higher levels of heart disease and mortality rates than other ethnic groups in the general population.