New Delhi:A very important study on 'heart attacks' initiated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is likely to be completed early next month after which the highly valued study will be reviewed and monitored by a committee of experts, including epidemiologists, clinicians, pathologists, forensic medicine experts and public health specialists.
A senior government official told ETV Bharat on Tuesday that the study is almost at its concluding stage after which it will be sent to a committee for review. "ICMR and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are exploring two approaches to investigate causes of sudden death, the official said.
The first approach is retrospective case-control studies to determine the risk factors associated with sudden death, such as recent Covid infection. The second approach will prospectively investigate sudden deaths in young adults. "It will use a virtual autopsy, in case a real autopsy is not possible, wherein a CT scan will be done to understand the cause of death. This facility has been developed in AIIMS, New Delhi," the official said.
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The ongoing study team is included experts in forensic medicine, pathology, radiology, neurology and cardiology. According to statistics, India has been registering more than 28,000 deaths due to heart attacks during the last three years whereas people from almost all age groups registered mortality. However, in 2022, 70 percent of heart attack deaths occurred in the age group between 35-55. The ongoing study has found that people belonging to the age group of 45 to 60 years were most prone to heart attacks, followed by those in the age group of 30 to 45 years.
"The reason includes lifestyle, increased physical activities, high stress and food habits," the study found. The number of deaths due to heart attacks have been increased alarmingly since 2018. In 2018, the total number of deaths reported in the country was 25,764 and the number increased to 28,005 in 2019, followed by 28,680 in 2020 and 28,449 in 2021.
Meanwhile, another senior official from the Health Ministry said that ICMR and all stakeholders concerned are working together to achieve the goal of eradicating TB by 2025 from India. "DHR and ICMR has been working in a mission mode to develop new tools for TB diagnosis, newer drugs and shorter regimen for TB treatment, vaccines and other preventive theories and novel implementation strategies to support the national programme in its goal of TB elimination by 2025," the official said.
