Association of Angiotensin converting enzyme gene insertion / deletion polymorphism with risk of ischemic heart disease in a population of smokers in southern India.

Background: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains a major public health problem nationally and internationally. Smoking is a major risk factor for IHD.The deletion (D) allele of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism has been associated with hypertension, ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction.