Apollo Hospitals is initiating research collaboration with John Hopkins Medicine International and other leading research institutions in India to find out the gene that causes heart diseases. The initiative is expected to help in developing preventive and therapeutic medicine.

There is possibly of a genetic predisposition to heart diseases amongst Indians, but the precise cause is still elusive. Apollo intends to modify the responsible gene through use of genomics, proteomics, nanotechnology and translational research.

A committee of nine experts and institutions has been set up including Apollo, Jon Hopkins and ICMR to carry out research on heart diseases. A research protocol has been developed and various modalities of collaborating with research partners is being worked out, Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Group of Hospitals, said.

Apollo Hospitals is launching a major nationwide campaign on heart diseases. All the 39 hospitals, 50 clinics and over 200 pharmacies belonging to the Apollo Group will be part of the nation wide campaign. It is launching the Apollo National Cardiac Plan formally on September 24, 2006, the World Heart Day.

Dr Prathap Reddy, said, the initiative will go beyond the preventive heart checks, awareness campaigns and world-class treatment of cardiac diseases and find the reason that makes an Indian more prone for heart diseases.

Apollo is embarking on a three-year intensive public education campaign to alert and educate public on the importance of prevention and early detection of heart disease. It has committed Rs 6 crore for the national heart campaign. Apollo is also planning to intensify its Heart Check Programme. It has already done over one million-heart checks in the past. It intends to establish more Heart Check centres all over India

As per estimates, there are 30 million Indians with heart diseases at present and the disease remains the most common cause of death with 9.1 per cent of deaths. There are about 2.4 million cardio-vascular disease deaths reported every year in India. Heart diseases also account for most common reason for hospitalisation with about 25 per cent of admissions in the country, he informed.

The WHO has warned that the risk of a heart attack among young Indians is 12-15 times higher than other races and there is a possibility that 50 per cent of the heart attack victims in the world will be Indians by 2012.