Pak Sehat Study Finds Heart Disease Risk in Healthy Young Pakistanis

A large national study has found that most Pakistanis who believe they are healthy are in fact carrying hidden risks for heart attack and stroke. Early results of the Pak Sehat Study, shared at a World Heart Day seminar at the University of Karachi, show that about 45 percent of the people checked had high blood pressure, 35 percent had diabetes and nearly 70 percent had high cholesterol. Between 72 and 80 percent were obese.

The study is led by Dr Bashir Hanif of Tabba Heart Institute in Karachi. He told the seminar that all of the roughly 2,000 people in the study considered themselves healthy when they joined. Their problems only came to light after doctors took their medical history, examined them, tested their blood and scanned their hearts and blood vessels.

What the Doctors Found

The people in the study are men and women aged between 30 and 65, chosen from every province. The number taken from each province matches that province's share of Pakistan's population. This means the results give a picture of the whole country, not just one city.

Each person had a CT angiography, a special scan that shows whether the arteries feeding the heart are getting narrow, along with an ultrasound. These tests picked up several risk factors that the participants did not know they had.

Dr Hanif said obesity sits at the centre of the problem. Extra body fat is closely linked with high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. Over time, these conditions damage the blood vessels and raise the chance of heart attacks, strokes and other heart diseases.

He also warned that South Asians tend to get heart disease at a younger age than people in the West. Heart attacks, he said, are now being reported even in Pakistanis under 30.

Earlier Results Gave the Same Warning

This is not the first alarm from the study. In April 2025, Dr Hanif shared early figures at a Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine conference in Karachi. At that time, he said around 70 percent of participants were obese, rising to 80 percent among women. More than 70 percent had high levels of LDL, often called "bad" cholesterol, and half had low levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol that protects the heart.

The same presentation showed how many people had no idea they were ill. Business Recorder reported that 42 percent of participants had high blood pressure that had never been diagnosed, and 23 percent had diabetes that nobody had caught.

In September 2025, Dr Khurram Nasir of Houston Methodist in the United States, one of the study's lead researchers, said only one in five adults in the study had a normal body weight. At the same event, diabetes expert Prof Waseem Hanif of the University of Birmingham said South Asians face health risks at a lower weight than many other people, and their ideal body mass index should be around 23 instead of the usual upper limit of 25.

How the Study Works

Pak Sehat is short for the Pakistan Study of Premature Coronary Atherosclerosis in Young Adults. In simple words, it looks at why the blood vessels of the heart start to clog and become narrow at an early age in Pakistan. Tabba Heart Institute leads the work with Getz Pharma, which is funding the project with nearly Rs1.4 billion, about US$5 million. Researchers from the Aga Khan University and Houston Methodist are also part of the team. According to the official study record, it began in March 2023.

Every participant will be followed for 10 years. Their medical history, physical checkups and blood tests will be repeated at different stages, and the CT angiography will be done again after five years and after 10 years. This will show how quickly the arteries change and which people go on to have a heart attack or stroke.

Blood samples have also been stored for genetic testing, to see whether something in the genes of Pakistanis makes early heart disease more likely. The team will also study food habits, lifestyle and the environment people live in. Dr Hanif has said in the past that Pakistan needs its own heart risk score, because the tools doctors use today were mostly built in the United States for older patients and can miss the danger in younger people here.

A Wider Health Crisis

The study's numbers match other national data. The International Diabetes Federation's Diabetes Atlas 2025 says Pakistan has the highest rate of diabetes in the world, with 31.4 percent of adults aged 20 to 79 affected. That is about 34.5 million people, and more than a quarter of them do not know they have the disease. The federation expects the number to reach 70.2 million by 2050.

Heart disease is already one of the biggest killers in the country. At a Pakistan Cardiac Society meeting held at Tabba Heart Institute in April 2026, cardiologists said at least 100 heart attacks are being reported every day in Karachi alone. They called for a shift from treating heart patients to preventing the disease in the first place.

This year's World Heart Day, marked on September 29, carries the theme "Don't Miss a Beat". The World Heart Federation says heart disease kills more than 20 million people around the world every year, and about 80 percent of those deaths are caused by risk factors that can be prevented or controlled.

What It Means for Ordinary Pakistanis

The biggest lesson from Pak Sehat is that feeling fine does not mean the heart is fine. High blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol usually cause no pain in the early years. Many people only find out after a heart attack.

Heart specialists have repeatedly urged adults to get their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol checked regularly, even when they feel well. These are simple tests available at most hospitals and laboratories. Dr Hanif has also advised people to walk for 30 minutes five times a week, eat less processed food and stop smoking.

The study still has years to run, and its full results have not been published yet. But the early numbers already show that for millions of Pakistanis, heart disease is building up quietly, and much of it can still be controlled if it is found early.