Dr. Vivian Rambihar, left, with his daughter, Sherryn.

A landmark editorial by a TSH cardiologist and his two daughters opens the January 2010 issue of the prestigious American Heart Journal, marking a special 50th anniversary. Dr. Vivian Rambihar and daughters Sherryn (an internal medicine specialist in cardiology training) and Vanessa (a U of T medical student), wrote ‘Race, Ethnicity and Heart Disease: a challenge for cardiology in the 21st century.’ 

“Ethnicity is one of many disparities in health, and this editorial is significant both locally and globally,” explains Dr. Rambihar. “It discusses ethnicity and health in general, and focuses on South Asians—which happens to be the largest minority group in our Scarborough community.”

Dr. Rambihar was invited to write the article because of his research and health promotion experience over the past 20 years, from a base at TSH. His research shows that people of Indian origin worldwide have one of the highest rates of diabetes and heart disease, and that they experience these diseases ten years earlier than the rest of the population.

The editorial describes traditional and new approaches to improving health, noting that health and its improvement depend on complex interactions of the mind, biology, society, the economy, politics and other factors. The original 1959 article that first reported on heart disease in Indians abroad, was reprinted to accompany Dr. Rambihar’s editorial and marks the 50th anniversary, attesting to the significance placed on this subject. 

“Everyday, we still hear of young people with unexpected sudden death or heart disease, especially in the South Asian and ethnic community, which we must do much more to prevent,” he adds, noting, “this editorial is timely, providing new ideas for reducing disparities in health here and globally. It is especially timely for the U.S. because of the current healthcare reform debate, which has as a goal the elimination of disparities in health.”

TSH has been a pioneer in this field, with the first research in North America on ethnic variation in heart attacks and community awareness programs from the early 1990s.