Introduction
Within the United Kingdom, the prominent cause of death has been coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the gradual accumulation of atheroma, which ultimately obstructs the heart from oxygenated blood as the blood vessels become narrow. The likelihood of having coronary heart disease is associated with numerous risk factors, ranging from smoking to ethnic background (NHS Choices, 2014). However, this essay will only focus on the aspects of psychosocial and behavioural or cultural risk factors, which influence the prevalence of coronary heart disease within the United Kingdom South Asian population.
The term ‘South Asian’ is used in government surveys and census to identify migrants by both their ethnicity and descendants …show more content…
In other words, more South Asians die from coronary heart disease than the majority population (Jepson et al., 2012). This is associated with an increase of between 40% to 60% risk of having the disease for South Asians (Heart UK, 2013). There are numerous reasons to account for this however, as the profile of biological risk is similar between South Asians and other ethnic groups, the difference in prevalence cannot be explained by the commonly associated risk factors such as hypertension or hypercholesterolemia (Williams et al., 2009). Therefore, there are other contributing factors, which impact on the incidence of coronary heart …show more content…
For example, South Asians living in the United Kingdom have poorer health outcomes and it can be explained by the lack of physical activity (Fischbacher et al., 2004 cited in Jepson et al., 2012). In comparison, the majority population is 60% more likely to engage in physical activity (Ranasinge et al., 2013). South Asians have a different attitude towards health because of their culture and understanding, which would impact on individual health outcomes (Rankin and Bhopal, 2001). Henceforth, to account for the prevalence of the disease within United Kingdom South Asians, understanding the psychosocial and behavioural or cultural risk factors is
Within the United Kingdom, the prominent cause of death has been coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the gradual accumulation of atheroma, which ultimately obstructs the heart from oxygenated blood as the blood vessels become narrow. The likelihood of having coronary heart disease is associated with numerous risk factors, ranging from smoking to ethnic background (NHS Choices, 2014). However, this essay will only focus on the aspects of psychosocial and behavioural or cultural risk factors, which influence the prevalence of coronary heart disease within the United Kingdom South Asian population.
The term ‘South Asian’ is used in government surveys and census to identify migrants by both their ethnicity and descendants …show more content…
In other words, more South Asians die from coronary heart disease than the majority population (Jepson et al., 2012). This is associated with an increase of between 40% to 60% risk of having the disease for South Asians (Heart UK, 2013). There are numerous reasons to account for this however, as the profile of biological risk is similar between South Asians and other ethnic groups, the difference in prevalence cannot be explained by the commonly associated risk factors such as hypertension or hypercholesterolemia (Williams et al., 2009). Therefore, there are other contributing factors, which impact on the incidence of coronary heart …show more content…
For example, South Asians living in the United Kingdom have poorer health outcomes and it can be explained by the lack of physical activity (Fischbacher et al., 2004 cited in Jepson et al., 2012). In comparison, the majority population is 60% more likely to engage in physical activity (Ranasinge et al., 2013). South Asians have a different attitude towards health because of their culture and understanding, which would impact on individual health outcomes (Rankin and Bhopal, 2001). Henceforth, to account for the prevalence of the disease within United Kingdom South Asians, understanding the psychosocial and behavioural or cultural risk factors is