Atherosclerosis in India

Abstract

Striking differences in the extent and severity of atherosclerosis were observed when our results were compared with those reported from the United States, Japan, and Jamaica, and South India by Gore et al. 4 Up to the age of 30 years the mean atherosclerotic indices of aorta from these sources were not significantly different. Subsequently, however, the mean atherosclerotic index in our cases was almost equal to that reported from South India but it was much less than that recorded in the U.S.A. and significantly less than that reported from Japan and Jamaica. It is thus seen that the factors that initiate atherogenesis are different from those that are effective in the formation of the later grades of lesions, since the same amount of streaking does not lead to an equal amount of fibrous plaque formation. It also shows that there are important geographic differences in the prevalence of these latter factors. Similarly, the coronary atherosclerosis was almost equal in our and the South Indian series but in both these places it was less advanced than that obtained in the U.S.A., Japan, and Jamaica.