Hina's story

Diwali is a festival that celebrates light over darkness and the human ability to overcome —  something mum-of-two Hina feels even more acutely today. Hina was in her thirties when she suddenly felt unwell while making Diwali sweets with her daughter. What she didn’t know at the time was that she had suffered a heart attack.

Paramedics rushed Hina to hospital where doctors discovered she had a blocked artery and inserted two stents, saving her life. 

Now 52, Hina can see just how much of a psychological impact the heart attack had on her. But thankfully, she has since received heart attack information and support from British Heart Foundation to help her come to terms with what happened.

Pioneering research to combat CVD in South Asian communities

There are around 7.6 million people in the UK living with cardiovascular disease (CVD). British Heart Foundation (BHF) is committed to understanding how people of different ethnicities may be at different levels of risk.We have a long history of funding research that supports this goal and we continue to do so, giving people hope.

In the 1990s, BHF began supporting a study following thousands of South Asian volunteers with the aim to identify genetic and environmental factors contributing to cardiovascular risk. BHF-funded researchers have contributed to this study over the years, including Professors James Scott and Jaspal Kooner, who were among the first to identify variations in DNA that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in South Asian people.  

We continue to fund research into the causes that could explain cardiovascular disease risk in South Asian communities, and new ways to reduce the risk and save lives. BHF Professor John Danesh, at the University of Cambridge, is trying to identify unknown risk factors that increase the risk of CVD among South Asian communities. By collecting genetic information from thousands of people, he hopes to find new opportunities to develop treatments that can reduce their risk, helping to give people more time with the ones they love.