16 April 2010
Bangalore, India
St John’s Centre Bags 5–Yr Project To Study Them
The five–year research will deal with the best ways to prevent cardio–vascular diseases. In the first project, doctors will study 10,500 patients who are at risk in 70 cities across the country. The centre was officially launched on Thursday.
Three projects are planned under this programme. In the first one, 10,500 patients will be observed on how they are treated and how they take care after being discharged, to improve treatments for stroke.
The second one will study patients who had a stroke but fail to take medicines after discharge. This is to improve lifestyle and create awareness about medication.
The last aims at conducting national programmes to control risk factors that will reduce complications. For this, 20,000 individuals of three rural communities in Bangalore Rural, Sevagram (Maharashtra) and Annamalainagar (Puducherry) have been identified.
As a part of the programme, researchers will meet twice every year to share the information collected. Other members include doctors from Argentina, Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Peru, South Africa, Guatemala, Tunisia and the US–Mexico border.
Training for youths
- The programme will also train young professionals to contribute to the research. Training for the first batch started in 2009, covering six persons. Development of infrastructure, including data management, is also on the cards.
- St John’s will tie up with institutions like Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram and Fortis Escorts Hospital and Research Institute, Jaipur, to conduct the research.
“If I get a disease, I am to be blamed. It is about our lifestyle – what we eat and how we manage stress. I was surprised to see 500–600 persons being screened for surgeries at camps in Gulbarga and Raichur. I thought they at least had a better lifestyle,” observed E V Ramana Reddy, principal secretary, health and family welfare.
Cristina Rabadan–Diehl, Dr Richard Smith and Dr Arun Chockalingam – representatives from the Global Health initiative programme, United Health and National Heart and Lung Institute, respectively, were present. Breaking the myth that cardio–vascular diseases are not of the rich man or seniors, they said lifestyle is the culprit for the increasing number of heart patients. “We are what we eat”, they said.
Know about it
- 60% of all deaths in the world are due to non–communicable diseases like heart stroke. Of these, 80% occur in developing countries like India
- India faces the highest burden of cardio–vascular diseases
- 45% of deaths in 2009 were due to cardio–vascular diseases
- In India, people tend to get cardio–vascular diseases at least 10 years earlier than those in the West
Disclaimer: The news story on this page is the copyright of the cited publication. This has been reproduced here for visitors to review, comment on and discuss. This is in keeping with the principle of ‘Fair dealing’ or ‘Fair use’. Visitors may click on the publication name, in the news story, to visit the original article as it appears on the publication’s website.
