NCD research: Kidney and cardiometabolic diseases

The epidemic of cardio-metabolic diseases is escalating worldwide including in India. The rapid socioeconomic transition is believed to have contributed to this rise with individuals being increasingly exposed to energy-dense diets, high stress levels, and sedentary work habits.

High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and increasing obesity are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, of chronic kidney disease and diabetes.

Our research projects investigate the prevalence and pattern of cardio-metabolic risk, identify the unique risk factors responsible for development and/or progression of these conditions and the economic and social cost of treatment of these diseases. Using a variety of approaches including large scale cohort-studies, use of big data analysis on large data sets, we hope to arrive at a better understanding of these diseases, develop arguments to help develop policy and define steps to early detection, prevention and management. We develop and test innovative models of care delivery for management of these conditions both at the community level and also in those with established disease conditions in real world situations.

We also plan to expand the scope of conditions to respiratory diseases, and common infections and reproductive health conditions – in particular their interface with chronic non-communicable diseases.