On March 2007, Dr. Tsetan Derji Sadutshang, director of Tibetan Delek Hospital in Dharamsala, the Indian town where Tibetan refugees coming from Tibet live, sent a letter to CardioLab Project’s organizers in order to have a screening for the evaluation of cardio-cerebrovascular risk performed in his hospital.
The reason: cardiovascular diseases incidence is increasing also in the Tibetan population (even if specific epidemiologic data are missing), especially because of the alteration of life habits. An initiative like CardioLab, whose function is also educational, could perfectly answer to Indian local needs.
Bayer, CardioLab sponsor in Italy, accepted this proposal with enthusiasm. A group of general practitioners from Rimini, coordinated by Dr. Claudio Cardelli, vice president of Associazione Italia Tibet, were invited to participate, as volunteers. They were the first ones involved in the CardioLab Project in Italy, and had a great experience in the management of road ambulatories. Among them, Dr. Geo Agostini, President of the “Ordine dei Medici” of Rimini, sentenced: “Our town has an old tradition into the co-operation with Dharamsala and in particular with Delek Hospital: in fact, Dalai Lama is honourable citizen of Rimini and from here two ambulances have been delivered to Dharamsala thanks to local institutions and charity associations”.
During the CardioLab Dharamsala experience, almost 800 people underwent medical examinations: 86% were common people, 14% Buddhist monks. 36% were young people (less than 35-year old) and half of the total was women. Even if this sounds like a favourable profile (globally, monks, young people and women have a low cardiovascular risk profile) 34% of them reported at least one past cardiovascular episode, even if the proportion of diabetics is very low.
Among risk factors, such as overweight, hypertension, smoke and stress, the two main concerns are stress (probably due to refugees living conditions) and overweight, which affects one over three patients.
In general, if we consider the young age of the people who underwent medical examinations, the amount of hypertensive patients is higher than expected. It’s been supposed a genetic factor could be involved.
So, Dr. Tsetan Derji Sadutshang asked to repeat CardioLab experience in the lower side of Dharamsala, where Indian population lives. These people are genetically different from those who live in the high side of Dharamsala, who are Tibetan refugees and arrived here after crossing Himalaya Mountain taking a hard 30 days travel.
“This has been a really special professional experience for the general practitioners who went to India. The relation with a population that is charming but needy of a qualified health assistance, in particular in cardiology, touched everyone” Dr. Agostini explains, “Through the CardioLab Project a bond with Italy has been established and now this collaboration must be kept on.
Among future initiatives, also thanks to the partnership with the Rimini local section of the Italy-Tibet Association, a telemedicine project exists: U.O. Infermi Hospital in Rimini, run by Dr. G. Piovaccari, will analyse and report the electrocardiograms performed at Delek Hospital, since in the entire Indian region of Dharamsala a lack of cardiologists exists.
Contributed by Associazione Italia Tibet , Milano Italy
