Ethnic differences in myocardial infarction in patients with hypertension: effects of diabetes mellitus

Background: It has been reported that hypertension carries a greater risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in South Asians living in the UK than in the indigenous British population. This has been attributed to some specifically Asian susceptibility factor. Design: Using a longitudinal approach, we investi-gated the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors amongst hypertension patients attending Sandwell and City Hospitals, and the onset of cardiovascular events over a 5-year follow-up period. Results: A total of 350 Caucasian (83.7 % male) and 104 South Asian (66.3 % male) patients with hyper-tension [age 63.7 (7.6) years and 57.1 (11.1) years respectively, P<0.001] were followed-up for a mea