By Nina Kathiresan
BOSTON–South Asian ancestry is now considered a risk-enhancing factor for cardiovascular disease, affecting billions worldwide. A new research study – OurHealth – is looking to understand why.
Scientists have long known that high-cholesterol or blood pressure are risk-enhancing factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). To mitigate that risk, cardiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital like Dr. Pradeep Natarajan and Dr. Amit V. Khera routinely prescribe statins to lower cholesterol and keep patients safe.
However, Dr. Natarajan, Director of Preventive Cardiology, MGH, says that “recently, research has shown that just being of South Asian ancestry leads to a 2- to 3-fold increased risk for heart disease and up to a 4-fold increased risk for diabetes, affecting 2 billion people worldwide” – raising the question, should physicians be treating individuals of ‘South Asian ancestry’ differently?
Although the increased risk among South Asians has gained more attention in recent years, the primary cause underlying the elevated risk is not well understood – in large part due to inadequate studies in South Asian populations.
“The current cardiovascular risk tool used to quantify future risk of cardiovascular disease in the United States is based on data from 25,000 individuals, but did not include a single South Asian. Similarly, in genetic studies to date, “South Asians make up 23% of the world population, but only 1.3% percent of research study participants,” says Dr. Khera, Co-Principal Investigator of OurHealth. “We urgently need broader representation in research studies focused on cardiovascular disease.”
Moreover, no single gene has been discovered to explain the increased risk for South Asians, delaying scientific efforts to develop an intervention.
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital led by Dr. Natarajan and Dr. Khera, and at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, led by Dr. Puneet Batra, will address this need with the OurHealth study. Launching in summer 2022, OurHealth will recruit 20,000 South Asians living in the United States to improve heart health for the global South Asian community.
Dr. Natarajan and Dr. Khera have years of experience in understanding the genetic effects of disease. “Studying OurHealth participants may uncover specific genetic or nongenetic drivers of the increased risk in South Asians,” says Dr. Khera.
Dr. Batra, an expert in using artificial intelligence to learn about biological function from healthcare data and investigator in the study, says, “We are uniquely positioned to apply computational breakthroughs to address our own community’s healthcare needs, but we need to collect the right medical data first.”
As part of the research study, participants will provide electronic health data, survey information, and a blood (or saliva) donation. Together, these resources will help researchers create a first-of-its-kind database that is large and culturally diverse and characterizes a range of health effects of South Asian culture including diet, meditation, yoga and more. Findings from OurHealth may help physicians advance prevention approaches through lifestyle modifications, improve medical therapies, or facilitate the discovery of new genes responsible for heart attacks in South Asian families. “For decades, much of biomedical research has not included individuals with ancestries outside Europe,” says Romit Bhattacharya, medical director of the study, “With OurHealth, we hope to rectify this knowledge gap.”
OurHealth invites individuals of South Asian ancestry, older than eighteen years of age, and living in the United States to get involved in the study. Volunteers can visit the OurHealth website (www.ourhealthstudy.org) and click “Get Involved.” Next, individuals will be guided through a brief intake survey which will display the various ways to get involved with the study: participation, donation, or volunteering. If individuals elect to participate in the study, they will be asked to complete a study questionnaire regarding their health information.
Addendum: To participate or donate, please visit the OurHealth website (www.ourhealthstudy.org) or email the team directly at info@ourhealthstudy.org.
