Nobel laureate to study high incidence of heart problems in India

Ferid Murad will do joint research with Apollo Hospitals

Ferid Murad, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1998 for his landmark discovery of how nitric oxide causes blood vessels to relax and improves the blood circulation, is going to study why the incidence of heart diseases are high in India.

Murad will conduct this study in association with the Apollo Hospitals group. The research would suggest ways to detect the problems early and provide timely treatment.

Murad’s remarkable discovery changed the entire field of cardiology forever. It led to newer ways of reducing the risk of heart diseases.

Murad and Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals, have announced the collaborative programme here on Monday.

“I would like to understand how cells communicate with each other, how they talk to each other, how one cell regulates the biochemistry and biology of another cell and that has taken me different fields like cancer, cardiology, neurology,” Murad said.

“If we can diagnose and detect problems early, it is going to be more cost-effective than take care of them a year later,” he said.

“My children are working on lipid disorders and predicting atherosclerosis in young children, the work is getting published. I think its doable. There are ways to do it and we are going to collaborate and do it,” he said.

“We will jointly explore newer pathways for early detection and accurate treatment of heart ailments,” Reddy said.

He accepted Apollo’s invitation to join the group’s Scientific Advisory panel.