Click to play videoNew Delhi: Did you know that most of the health parameters that we follow in India like blood pressure or cholesterol are actually Western markers.
“Parameters we have been following so far are adapted from West. These may not be relevant to us,” says Internal Medicine, Max, Dr Meenakshi Jain,
However, the Indian Council for Medical Research has announced a nationwide programme called the Indian National Clinical Laboratory Parameters to reassess over 272 common medical parameters to make them more relevant to Indian health care.
Some of these parameters include:
- Blood Pressure.
- Blood Sugar.
- Cholesterol.
- Haemoglobin.
- Kidney and Liver tests.
- Body Mass Index.
“So far no long term Indian has been study carried out so we still are using Western markers,” says Chairman, MARCH, Dr P Bhargava.
The obvious reason behind this effort is that we Indians are ethnically and genetically different from our Western counterparts so the current parameters can be extremely misleading.
“If we follow their anaemia markers it means 80 per cent or our women are anaemic which is false and only leads to wastage of resources,” says Dr Jain.
The project aims to cover a sample of 3,000 people in six states across India.
Private Laboratories like Dr Lal and Ranbaxy have been identified as partners. Expected to cost Rs 500 crore the project will take off by mid 2008.
But experts say the new Indian markers must also identify local variations and socio-cultural differences.
“We need to have rural and urban markers also gender specific and religion specific,” says Dr Jain.
So the bad news is that the final results may take five to 10 years to arrive. Until then if you have any doubts, consult your physician.
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