Salim Yusuf

Salim Yusuf was born in 1952 in a middle class family in the town of Kottarakkara in Kerala, India, and was educated at schools in Kottarakkara, as well as Mumbai and Kochi. Yusuf stated that his father compelled him to get into medicine. Following a number of failed attempts, Yusuf studied medicine at St. John's Medical College in Bangalore. Yusuf recounted that he “was very aware that I was not the brightest student”, and that he "just had to work as hard as possible to keep up with my peers". Yusuf later earned a DPhil at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. Yusuf has stated that he became interested in cardiology "partly because it was such a logical specialty and partly because it was a field in which we thought we could do much to help patients". Despite admitting that prior to studying at Oxford that he had "very little direct interest in research", at Oxford he took part in research into cardiovascular disease.{{Cite journal |date=2015-07-01 |title=Leaders in cardiovascular medicine Salim Yusuf MD: the physician who wants to improve the world's cardiovascular health |url=https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehv148 |journal=European Heart Journal |language=en |volume=36 |issue=25 |pages=1560–1565 |doi=10.1093/eurheartj/ehv148 |issn=0195-668X}}

His doctoral thesis was titled "Beta adrenergic blockade in myocardial infarction" and his supervisor was Peter Sleight.{{Cite thesis|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5083cd5c-66b6-4b15-a9ff-1eb52b039c6f|title=Yusuf, Salim, (1980). Beta adrenergic blokade in myocardial infarction. DPhil. University of Oxford.|website=Oxford Research Archive|year=1980|publisher=University of Oxford|last1=Yusuf|first1=Salim}}

In 1984, Yusuf moved to the National Institutes of Health in the United States, where he led clinical trials that showed the value of ACE inhibitors in people with left ventricular dysfunction and the optimal use of digoxin). He came to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in 1992 as director of the cardiology division. In 1999 McMaster created the Population Health Research Institute at the Hamilton Health Sciences campus of McMaster, and made Yusuf the director of the center and vice president of research at HHS.{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.phri.ca/about/history/ |publisher=PHRI |access-date=17 June 2018 |language=en-CA}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/prestigious-gairdner-medical-award-for-canadas-salim-yusuf/article17677071/ |title=Canada's Salim Yusuf wins prestigious Gairdner award |newspaper=Globe and Mail |date=March 26, 2014 |last=Semeniuk |first=Ivan}}

From 1999 to 2004, he also held an appointment as a senior scientist at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

One of Yusuf's most cited research studies is the INTERHEART study published in The Lancet in 2004, a case-control study regarding the risk factors of myocardial infarction (commonly known as heart attacks) with participants in 52 countries.{{Cite journal |last=Yusuf |first=Salim |last2=Hawken |first2=Steven |last3=Ôunpuu |first3=Stephanie |last4=Dans |first4=Tony |last5=Avezum |first5=Alvaro |last6=Lanas |first6=Fernando |last7=McQueen |first7=Matthew |last8=Budaj |first8=Andrzej |last9=Pais |first9=Prem |last10=Varigos |first10=John |last11=Lisheng |first11=Liu |date=September 2004 |title=Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673604170189 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=364 |issue=9438 |pages=937–952 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17018-9}}

In 2011, he was the world's second-most-cited cardiology researcher, and in 2020, he was the world's most-cited cardiology researcher. Yusuf's large-scale clinical trials have had a significant impact on the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. in particular, he has demonstrated the value of combinations of blood pressure lowering and lipid lowering with statins and of combinations of antiplatelet therapy and joint use of anticoagulants and aspirin in low doses to prevent cardiovascular disease and death.

He was a past president of the World Heart Federation 2015–2016,{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.world-heart-federation.org/about-us/our-history/ |publisher=World Heart Federation |access-date=18 June 2018}} where he initiated the Emerging Leaders Program which is now named after him.[https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/people/professor-salim-yusuf/ "Professor Salim Yusuf"]. sjc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2023.

Yusuf has disputed the prevailing view in the medical community that increased consumption of saturated fat and dietary sodium causes cardiovascular disease and has questioned dietary guidelines that call for reduction in their intake.[https://www.tctmd.com/news/it-time-loosen-restrictions-saturated-fats-and-salt "Is It Time to Loosen Restrictions on Saturated Fats and Salt?"]. tctmd.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023. In 2017, Yusuf spoke at the Cardiology Update 2017 symposium in which he disputed the saturated fat guidelines whilst admitting he is not an expert in nutrition.{{cite news |last1=Phend |first1=Crystal |title=Fat Wars: Diet Docs Have Salim Yusuf in the Cross Hairs |url=https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/dietnutrition/63527|work=MedPage Today |date=2 March 2017 |language=en}} He stated that a higher saturated fat intake is protective and eating more dietary carbohydrates is harmful. Yusuf has commented that "saturated fats are not harmful, may even be slightly beneficial but there is no harm", and recommends people to consume high-fat dairy products and unprocessed red meat.[https://archive.today/20230104012321/https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/carbs-higher-risk-heart-disease-states-leading-cardiologist-dr-salim-yusuf/%23google_vignette "The more carbs you eat, the higher the risk of heart disease, states leading cardiologist, Dr Salim Yusuf"]. diabetes.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2022. These ideas were criticized by other medical researchers and nutritionists such as David L. Katz, who described them as "bizarre" and "misguided".

Yusuf has questioned the consensus on salt and cardiovascular disease and has argued that a low sodium intake does not lower risk of cardiovascular events and mortality but increases it.[https://newsroom.heart.org/_c/573f94682cfac250e4422568/ American Heart Association strongly refutes study findings on sodium consumption]. newsroom.heart.org. Retrieved 3 December 2022.{{Cite web |last=Dunphy |first=Siobhán |date=2018-08-10 |title=Yet another controversial study claiming salt may not be as bad as once thought |url=https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/public-health/yet-another-controversial-study-claiming-salt-may-not-be-as-bad-as-once-thought/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=European Scientist |language=en-US}} In 2018, he co-authored a controversial paper which argued that sodium intake is associated with cardiovascular disease only in communities where mean intake is greater than 5 g/day.

In 2013, Yusuf was named an Officer in the Order of Canada.{{cite web |url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/news/news_2013/yusuf_order_of_canada.html |title=Professor named to Order of Canada |publisher=McMaster University |date=July 2, 2013}} He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2014, he was awarded the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=http://cdnmedhall.org/dr-salim-yusuf |title=Dr. Salim Yusuf |publisher=Canadian Medical Hall of Fame |year=2014}} In 2024, Yusuf received an honorary doctorate degree from Oxford University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-04-24-honorary-degree-recipients-2024-announced|title=Honorary degree recipients for 2024 announced | University of Oxford|date=24 April 2024|website=www.ox.ac.uk}}

Yusuf is married to Wahida Yusuf. They have three children, two of which also studied medicine.

• {{cite journal|author=Yusuf, Salim|year=2018|title=Urinary sodium excretion, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: a community-level prospective epidemiological cohort study|journal=The Lancet|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-67361831376-X/fulltext|volume=392|issue=10146|pages=496-506|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31376-X}}
• {{Cite journal|last1=Yusuf Salim|last2=Magkos Faidon|last3=Bier Dennis M.|last4=Brenna J. Thomas|last5=de Oliveira Otto Marcia C.|last6=Hill James O.|last7=King Janet C.|last8=Mente Andrew|last9=Ordovas Jose M.|last10=Volek Jeff S.|last11=Astrup Arne|date=2020-08-18|title=Saturated Fats and Health: A Reassessment and Proposal for Food-Based Recommendations|journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology|volume=76|issue=7|pages=844–857|doi=10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.077|pmid=32562735|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|author=Yusuf, Salim; Mente, Andrew; Dehghan, Mahshid|year=2020|title=Diet and health: the need for new and reliable approaches|journal=European Heart Journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/41/28/2641/5827053|volume=41|issue=28|pages=2641–2644|doi=10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa317|doi-access=free}}

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• [https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5083cd5c-66b6-4b15-a9ff-1eb52b039c6f Full text of doctoral thesis] via Oxford Research Archive

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Category:1952 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian cardiologists

Category:Canadian epidemiologists

Category:Canadian medical writers

Category:Officers of the Order of Canada

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada

Category:Indian emigrants to Canada

Category:Indian Rhodes Scholars