Ahmed Bilal Waqar

35088909900

Publications - 2

Global, regional and national burden of ischemic heart disease attributable to suboptimal diet, 1990–2023: a Global Burden of Disease study

Marcin W. Wojewodzic Dinesh Upadhya Ahmed Bilal Waqar Kazumasa Yamagishi Zhiyong Zou Y. Waheed Suowen Xu Rekha Thapar Abdul Rohim Tualeka Dakshitha Praneeth Wickramasinghe Mircea Tampa Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe Rasiah Thayakaran Felicia Wu Rajshree Thapa Pugazhenthan Thangaraju Dehui Yin Isidora S. Vujcic Galal Yahya Mohamad Hani Temsah Yunquan Zhang Shoban Babu Varthya Muhammad Umair Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone Domenico Trico Casper J. P Zhang Madhur Verma Aurora Zanghì Xiao Dong Zhou Dong Keon Yon Bin Zhu Nguyen Tran Minh Duc Habib Yaribeygi Mohammed Zawiah Jibrin Sammani Usman Tommi Juhani Vasankari Loc Tri Vu Peter Willeit Dominique Vervoort Pengpeng Ye Kavumpurathu Raman Thankappan Dipan Uppal Min Seo Kim Ramna Thakur Anggi Lukman Wicaksana Naohiro Yonemoto Tewodros Eshete Wonde Stefanos Tyrovolas Chuanhua Yu Yuichi Yasufuku Zenghong Wu Andrea Werdecker Khaled Trabelsi Mary Njeri Wanjau Jacques Lukenze Tamuzi Shuduo Zhou Nguyen Tran Minh Duc Aniefiok John Udoakang Haosu Tang Sojit Tomo Lakshmi Thangavelu Ghazal Zoghi Masayuki Teramoto Toyiba Hiyaru Wassie Georgios Ioannis Verras Joe Varghese Subah Abderehim Yesuf Nathan Y. Tat Anthony Zhong Zhiqiang Zhang Abzal Zhumagaliuly Thang Huu Tran Manish Vinayak Thien Tan Tri Tai Truyen Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Sa’ed H. Zyoud Magdalena Zielińska Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Krishna Tiwari Jansje Henny Vera Ticoalu Nghia Minh Tran Munkhtuya Tumurkhuu Quynh Thuy Huong Tran Jef Van den Eynde Yanzhong Wang Xiaoyue Xu Mohammed Y. Youssef Wanqing Xie Xingxin Wang Hanqing Zhao Yuichiro Yano Yihun Miskir Wubie Claire Chenwen Zhong Salih M.Mustafa Salih Zebari Sa’ed H. Zyoud Yuichi Yasufuku Lakshmi Thangavelu Tewodros Eshete Wonde Rekha Thapar Xing Wang Casper J. P Zhang Liqun Zhang Mohammed G. M Zeariya Era Upadhyay Ali H. Mokdad Marcello Tonelli Iman M. Talaat Mathilde Touvier

Publication Name: Nature Medicine

Publication Date: 2026-04-01

Volume: 32

Issue: 4

Page Range: 1454-1478

Description:

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains a leading cause of death worldwide, with dietary risks being its most significant modifiable factor. Here, using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study 2023, we estimated the mortality and disability-adjusted life years from diet-related IHD across 204 countries. In 2023, a suboptimal diet was responsible for 4.06 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 0.74–6.22) IHD deaths and 96.84 million (18.82–142.52) IHD disability-adjusted life years. The global age-standardized death rate of IHD attributable to suboptimal diet decreased by 43.92% (95% UI 34.44–53.23) per 100,000 population from 1990 to 2023. Among dietary factors, low intake of nuts and seeds (9.87, 95% UI 2.84–17.12 deaths per 100,000 population), low whole grains (9.22, 4.73–13.67), low fruits (7.25, 1.54–13.34) and high sodium (7.15, 0.92–17.97) were primary contributors to IHD deaths. The burden was particularly pronounced in low- and middle-sociodemographic index countries. By disentangling dietary risk factors, we identified the portion of IHD burden directly modifiable through food interventions.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04250-8

Mapping drivers of life expectancy change in Asia from 1990 to 2023

Bhaskaran Unnikrishnan Balachandar Vellingiri Dinesh Upadhya Ahmed Bilal Waqar Kazumasa Yamagishi Zhiyong Zou Y. Waheed Suowen Xu Abdul Rohim Tualeka Liqun Zhang Dakshitha Praneeth Wickramasinghe Ingan Ukur Tarigan Manoj Tanwar Ghazala Yunus Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe Lishun Xiao Yong Yu Dehui Yin Galal Yahya Karn Wijarnpreecha Saba Tariq Yunquan Zhang Shoban Babu Varthya Muhammad Umair Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian Srikanth Umakanthan Gary Tse Haiqiang Yao Dong Keon Yon Amir Yarahmadi Xiaoyi Zhang Jibrin Sammani Usman Pascual R. Valdez Pengpeng Ye Ramna Thakur Anggi Lukman Wicaksana Naohiro Yonemoto Stefanos Tyrovolas Chuanhua Yu Bach Xuan Tran Mario Valenti Hong Xiao Yen Jun Wong Shu Wang Saeed Ullah Haosu Tang Nikhil Kenny Thomas Fei Long Wei Sojit Tomo Md Ismail Tareque Sok Cin Tye Reem Temsah Ghazal Zoghi Masayuki Teramoto Jay Tewari Mohammed Zuber Joe Varghese Angga Wilandika Jose M. Valderas Zhiqiang Zhang Abzal Zhumagaliuly Thang Huu Tran Nguyen Kieu Viet-Nhi Manish Vinayak Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Magdalena Zielińska Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Dongmiao Zhang Salih Mustafa Zebari Siyan Yi Jansje Henny Vera Ticoalu Muhammad Waqas Munkhtuya Tumurkhuu Quynh Thuy Huong Tran Jef Van den Eynde Yanzhong Wang Xiaoyue Xu Madi Tleshev Hafsa Zia Wanqing Xie Mingyang Xue Yuichiro Yano Claire Chenwen Zhong Zhijia Xia Jae Il Shin Gary Tse Yuichi Yasufuku Rekha Thapar Mohammed G. M Zeariya Claire Chenwen Zhong Dongmiao Zhang Nguyen Tran Minh Duc Casper J. P Zhang Ruixuan Wang Era Upadhyay Nicholas Steel Simona Villani Robert G. Weintraub Manjari Tripathi Simon I. Hay Paul Yip Mukesh Kumar Yadav Nihal Thomas

Publication Name: Nature

Publication Date: 2026-01-01

Volume: Unknown

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Life expectancy is a key indicator of population health and an important guide for health policy1,2. Although Asia represents approximately 60% of the global population, studies of longitudinal trends in life expectancy and their underlying drivers across Asian countries remain limited, with most previous research focused on western or high-income settings3, 4, 5–6. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of life expectancy, cause-specific mortality and risk factors in 1990–2023 across 34 Asian countries and territories, utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 20231,7. Life expectancy increased in all countries and territories between 1990 and 2023, with the largest annual gains observed in South Asia and the smallest annual gains in high-income Asia Pacific countries and territories. Reductions in cardiovascular disease mortality were the primary contributors to life expectancy gains in Central Asia, East Asia and high-income Asia Pacific, whereas declines in diarrhoeal diseases and tuberculosis contributed most in South and Southeast Asia. In 2019–2023, life expectancy declined in several Asian regions, largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a nearly two-year loss in the first year of the pandemic. The causes of changes in life expectancy and the contributing risk factors varied across regions and countries/territories. Therefore, under the principles of proportional universalism, proactive and effective policies at both regional and national levels are essential to reduce premature mortality and reduce life expectancy inequalities across Asia.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10739-6