DESIDOC NEWS
from Dr. Mubin Syed

HEALTH CHECKLIST FOR SOUTH ASIANS

Start now to pay more attention to your health! 

The question I'm most commonly asked? 

How do I prevent getting diabetes or heart disease or other major illnesses?

Before I had a heart attack, I wish I had had a simple health checklist. 

I share this checklist with you below.

Review it now. If you answer "no" to all of these questions—wonderful! 

Simply check back occasionally to make sure you're mindful of potential signs of health problems. 

Or, discuss any concerns it triggers with your doctor. 

HEALTH CHECKLIST

• Do you fall asleep after a meal?

This could be sign of pre-diabetes or diabetes.

• Do you feel tired during the day or snore at night?

This could be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, which is a risk factor for diabetes, pre-diabetes, and heart disease.

• Do you get out of breath or feel chest tightness when climbing stairs or can't walk as far as you did a few months ago?

This could be a sign of heart disease.

• In particular for South Asians, do you have dark patches on your face, neck, arms, or legs? 

This is called acanthosis nigricans and could be a sign of pre-diabetes or diabetes.

• When you look down can you see your feet?

You should be able to. For South Asian men, your waist circumference should be less than 90 cm. For South Asian women, it should be less than 84cm.

This checklist is not to scare you but to help you:

• Be more aware of what's happening in your own body

• Have more informed conversations with your doctor

Know that you have some control over your health. 

It starts with being proactive and aware.

* Disclaimer: This checklist is for information purposes only and should not substitute for consultation with your doctor/health practitioner.

SOUTH ASIAN HEALTH RESOURCES

If you have a wonderful doctor and healthcare network, please continue to proactively work with them to achieve your optimal health.  But if you're looking for extra information or support, below are some health centers, researchers, and doctors specializing in South Asian health in the United States. 

Centers

South Asian Public Health Association

(US/National)

Find out more here.

Sign up for the SAPHA newsletter.

Masala Study (Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living In America) Study

(University of California, San Francisco, CA; Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; New York University, NY)

Find out more here.

PRANA: PRevention and AwareNess for South Asians (Palo Alto, CA)

Find out more here.

South Asian Comprehensive Cardiovascular Clinic (Cincinnati, OH)

Find our more here.

South Asian Health Initiative (SAHI)/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)

Find out more here.

WHY I CARE SO MUCH: MY STORY

I'm South Asian and I care about my heritage and history as so many of us do. But it took a severe heart attack at age 52, to pay closer attention to what it means to be South Asian, particularly in terms of health. 

I, as a doctor, thought I was 1) medically informed and 2) living a healthy life, yet this life-threatening wake-up call had me wondering: How could this happen when "on paper" I should have been healthy?

I had to find out. Once I was out of danger, and after decades of study and work in the medical field, my investigative mind couldn't let go of the idea that there might be something I didn't know, that Western medicine didn't know.

I found medical studies showing that South Asians are particularly susceptible to diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and death at early ages.

I was shocked, and wanted to know more – and why?

In the last five years, I've found surprising research that shows a connection between extensive famines in South Asia's colonial era and modern-day health issues.

Famine survival changes peoples' genetics. 

Then subsequent generations with these body adaptations but now living a more abundant lifestyle suffer consequences. 

Our bodies fight against these choices, making us more susceptible to disease more quickly and severely than people in other cultural communities.

Overeating, eating non-healthful foods, little exercise, poor sleep, high stress—though these factors can catch up with anyone, they more dramatically affect South Asians with genetic predispositions.

We can't change what happened in the past, but my own heart attack and recovery and current positive health has made me deeply committed to informing and inspiring fellow South Asians. 

I'm sharing with you these historic influences, which most people don't know about; our disease predispositions; and most importantly, what to look out for and how to take better care of ourselves for longer, healthier, happier lives.

FUN FACT

My science career began at age 7 (that's me in the photo!), when one of my discoveries was published in a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, on "A Simple Test for Left-Handedness."