According to the conference held at Varca in Goa it is found that Indians eating only vegetarian diet suffer from high homocysteine levels. The two day conference mainly analyzed the Indian population and found that extreme vegetarian practices lead to hyperhomocysteinemia. This would further worsen the situation by increasing the risk of developing diseases such as strokes, heart attack, diabetes and other fatal diseases. Experts and medical practitioners have opined that homocysteine levels amongst Indian population were alarming especially in case of extreme vegetarians. On the other hand Dr Rusom Wadia, Pune-based consulting physician and neurologist said that they were not advocating vegetarians to change their diet.
He also mentioned that milk, eggs and green salad make up for the deficiency of B12, folic acid and pyridoxine which is otherwise not available in a non vegetarian diet. Other medical professionals who attended the conference were Dr G S Sainani, cardiodiabetologist, Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai, Dr Pradip Talwalkar, consulting diabetologist, S L Raheja Hospital, Mumbai, Dr Y P Munjal, director, centre for diabetes and lifestyle diseases.In conclusion Dr.Wadia said that many such conferences should be conducted to create awareness among and establish new guidelines among general practitioners and masses about homocysteinemia.
