If there’s something I’ve come to realize over the years, it’s this, being South Asian and heart healthy shouldn’t feel like a contradiction.
As a cardiologist, I’ve seen firsthand how our community is disproportionately affected by heart disease and as a Pakistani woman, I’ve seen how silence, shame, and cultural conditioning often get in the way of prevention, support, and healing.
This is personal. This is systemic. And it’s time for a SIGNIFICANT shift.
A New Narrative for a New Generation
In the next few years, I see a future where South Asians don’t just react to heart attacks, we aim to prevent them. Where our elders stop seeing diabetes and high blood pressure as not anything to worry about and where younger generations understand their genetic risk factors and to act early.
I want to rewrite the story from inevitability to one of empowerment. I want our food to nourish our hearts, not harm them. I want our aunties and uncles to normalize exercise, healthier meals, and incorporate wellness into their daily routines (I know I know, but maybe some day?)
From Diagnosis to Prevention to Empowering choices
We have the data. We know that South Asians are more likely to suffer from heart disease at younger ages, with fewer warning signs. But data alone doesn’t change lives; its the stories, education, and access that DO.
My goal is to bring culturally competent heart health education to the forefront: from mosques to community centers to those infamous WhatsApp chats, maybe even a TikTok or two, yes I said it, selling my soul to social media for the sake of good health haha!
This isn’t just about medical knowledge. It’s about mindset. In 10 years, I want every South Asian woman, who I can relate to SO well, to know how to advocate for her heart, her body, and her wellbeing.
The Role of Coaching
If I can take my skills as a clinician and pair it with deep understanding and listening, I can hold space for my clients stress, food stories, family dynamics, and so much more. I get you because I AM you.
Over the next decade, I want to scale this model. I dream of building a network of South Asian heart health coaches trained to work alongside doctors, not in place of them but to be able bridge the gaps that the system still leaves wide open.
And I want to make this accessible. For EVERYONE. We all deserve care for ourselves, especially our hearts.
We are historically underserved. But we are also incredibly resourceful, brilliant, and ready.
I’m here for the long game and I hope you are too!
Let’s change the future of South Asian heart health, one choice and one heart at a time.
