Cardiovascular Diseases Lead As India’s Top Killer: US Cardiologist Points Out Risk Factors
Indians are facing an increasing burden of heart diseases, and mortality is rising faster compared to other countries. A top US cardiologist has now shared the major risk factors that range from genetics to obesity to pollution.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) cause nearly 31 per cent of all deaths in India, according to the latest Sample Registration Survey (SRS) 2021-2023 data from the Registrar General of India, released in September 2025.
The SRS report highlighted cardiovascular diseases as the leading cause of death, especially among adults over 30.
Speaking exclusively to HealthandMe, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, highlighted the key reasons why India is seeing a huge burden of heart diseases.
"I think it’s a combination of traditional and non-traditional risk factors. Globally, we are seeing the burden of obesity increasing, and specifically in India, genetic factors and non-traditional risk factors also play a role," Dr. Sripal said.
"There is a growing investigation into lipoprotein(a) and other causes of cardiovascular disease (in India). Obesity is a major risk factor, and I’m sure stress and pollution also add to it, with more and more data supporting these links," he added.
Data from the World Heart Federation showed that heart disease kills 28.6 lakh Indians every year. In the recent past, India has also been seeing a significantly higher rate of heart attacks and related deaths, even in children as young as 12 years old.
What Factors Are Driving This Trend
"I think we need to know that part of it tends to be non-traditional, because in the Western world most of it is explainable by traditional risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia," Dr. Sripal said.
"What we see in India is that it is less about those risk factors, but more about non-traditional ones, including potentially genetic factors and lipoprotein(a)," the doctor added.
The Indian-origin interventional cardiologist also cited lifestyle factors such as stress and pollution that are significantly adding to the increased risk of cardiovascular events in the country.
AHA 2026 Cholesterol Guidelines: Relevance For India
Recently, the American Heart Association (AHA) released cholesterol guidelines, which stressed the importance of early screening,starting wit teenagers.
The guidelines call for early intervention through early screening and healthy lifestyle changes, starting from childhood.
It recommends:
- Children (9-11 years): Cholesterol screening if never done before.
- Adults (30-79 years): Evaluate 10- and 30-year ASCVD risk to determine the need for early intervention
"India is a good example where LDL levels (bad cholesterol) may not be very high, like in the Western world. Many times, HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) tends to be lower, and there are other risk factors, including lipoprotein(a), which seems to be elevated here," Dr. Sripal said.
How To Improve Heart Health
The doctor also explained whether overall diet quality matters more than just cholesterol intake.
"Diet adds to the totality of everything that we do, including increasing the risk of obesity. Cholesterol may explain some part of it, but having a heart-healthy diet is critically important," Dr. Sripal said.
The cardiologist highlighted the need to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables, as consuming natural foods is critically important.
Importantly, he also emphasized at least making sure that you have a lipid panel to check your cholesterol levels.
"We are assuming that you are staying healthy and not smoking. Checking blood pressure, it depends on your age, but at least once a year, checking your lipid panel would be critically important," Dr. Sripal told HealthandMe.
As a cardiologist, he shared that to boost heart health, the key is
- to make sure that you lead a healthy lifestyle,
- stay away from smoking,
- increase physical activity,
- reduce stress.
"Pollution is one factor, and I think we can all do our part to make sure that we don’t contribute more to environmental pollution," he noted.