Heart disease in India

Abstract

1. 1. A statistical study is presented of 1,860 cases of organic heart disease, from a medical population of 30,104 patients, observed in Bombay, India. The incidence of organic heart disease works out at 6.2 per cent. 2. 2. The incidence of heart disease is investigated from the points of view of age, sex, and race. The highest incidence of cases (24.3 per cent) is observed in the fifth decade of life; 62.8 per cent of the cases are between the age limits of 30 and 59 years. A relatively higher incidence is observed among the Christians, Parsees, and Jews than among the Hindus and Moslems. 3. 3. Cases of organic heart disease are classified into nine etiologic groups, viz., (1) congenital, 1 per cent; (2) rheumatic, 24.7 per cent; (3) syphilitic, 12.9 per cent; (4) bacterial, 1.1 per cent; (5) hypertensive, 29 per cent; (6) coronary, 13.5 per cent; (7) pulmonary, 10 per cent; (8) miscellaneous, 11.3 per cent; and (9) “of unknown origin”, 5.6 per cent. 4. 4. The rheumatic, syphilitic, hypertensive, coronary, and pulmonary groups of heart disease are individually investigated, from the points of view of incidence, age, sex, race, associated etiologic factors and complications.