AIIMS today launched a research project called 'cohort study' in collaboration with a Dutch organisation to investigate the various factors which may accelerate vascular and cognitive disorders like stroke and Alzheimer's disease.
"Stroke mortality in India is 25 times more than that from malaria. Research has shown that Indians are more susceptible to stroke than their western counterparts," Union Minister Jaipal Reddy said at the launch of the project.
"The joint Indo-Dutch study will investigate the various factors behind (the above)," he added.
Erasmus Medical Center of the Netherlands is partnering AIIMS for the project towards which the Indian Department of Biotechnology has committed around Rs 33 crore.
Explaining how the study works, Dr Kameshwar Prasad, a professor in the department of neurology at AIIMS, said that as a first step, a group of 15,000 people aged 50 years and above would be identified from Delhi and Gurgaon.
This group would then be followed for 10 years to assess risk factors associated with stroke and Alzheimer's disease.
The study will help point out specific factors which increase the chance of stroke. The findings ultimately will prevent stroke and other disorders," explained Dr Prasad.
AIIMS director MC Mishra said that the model was unique in the sense that, "instead of the usual practice of people seeking cure at AIIMS, it is the AIIMS which will seek people at risk to prevent diseases."
The Dutch Minister for Health, Welfare and Sports, Edith Schippers, was also present on the occasion.
