New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- Heart disease has emerged as one of India's most serious public health challenges, with heart attacks striking Indians much younger than in the West. But unlike their predecessors, younger adults today are experiencing heart attacks and other cardiac events with little warning. This increasing incidence is due to a dangerous mix of genetic vulnerability, metabolic dissimilarity, swift changes in lifestyles, chronic stress and environmental pollution.

Two of India's leading cardiologists, Dr Balbir Singh and Dr Amit Kumar Malik, share why Indians are at a greater risk for early heart disease-and how we can turn the tide through early prevention and screening measures.

"Genetics have a major role to play in the high ...