Biology Biotech
The Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies comprise a research programme that has followed the lives of two groups of Finnish people, one of them for almost fifty years. The data garnered from the programme is quite remarkable, and provides a truly unique insight into the genetic, environmental and social determinants behind many of the diseases that we suffer today
Investigating disease
determinants through
lifetime study
Cohort studies aim to promote health and well-being of the population by providing a unique resource of data, allowing the study of emergence of diseases based upon genetic, biological, social and behavioural risk factors. The Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies began almost fifty years ago when, led by Professor Paula Rantakillo, they enlisted around 12,000 mothers and their children expected to be born in 1966. The original aim was to study biological, family and social determinants of low birth weight, perinatal and later morbidity and mortality and risk of disability. A second cohort was later enlisted for children born in 1985-86. Most birth cohort studies begin with
fairly targeted primary questions, for example looking at the determinants of childhood asthma. The groups of children in these studies are collected in such a way that the outcome is a specific phenotype.
In this way, the Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies are different,
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
in that they look at a much more general section of the population. For these particular cohorts, data from both the mother, father and children has been collected throughout the pregnancy and
There are a number of advantages that
birth cohort studies can provide in terms of
data. In particular, they can be
extremely useful for examining the multiple outcomes of a single risk factor.
“Many birth cohort studies begin with fairly targeted primary questions, for example looking at the determinants of childhood asthma”
then at ages 6-12 months, 7-8 years, 14-16 years, 31 years and 46 years old. The data garnered from each subject within the study has been extremely detailed, with a wide range of phenotypic, lifestyle, demographic and other data being gathered using a combination of questionnaires,
clinical and national register data. examinations
For example, poor foetal growth may be associated with cardiovascular disease later in life, but it also may be implicated in a number of other diseases such as asthma or epilepsy. The way in which an early factor such as this affects any number of different later phenotypes can be clearly seen in a birth cohort study such as this.
53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112