Testing thermal perception thresholds and tolerance
AT A GLANCE Project Information
use of the information at hand. “In total, there are more than 20 sub studies within the project, looking at different outcomes such as asthma or muscolo-skeletal and dental health,” says Järvelin. Disorders that occur in early adulthood
and middle age have recently been a key focus of research. These include asthma, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease risk markers (a composition of outcomes such as high blood pressure, high lipids
and high glucose) as well as
psychiatric disorders. One of the teams has been looking into what the early life determinants
of psychosis and
schizophrenia might be, as well as whether there is any genetic disposition. It is this ability to look back at earlier information on a patient who has developed something later in life that makes the information from this birth cohort study so valuable. The older cohort is now approaching fifty
years old, and data collection from when they turned 46-47 years old has just finished. Collecting extensive information from every single subject is a huge undertaking, as Järvelin explains: “Even before we get the subjects in to the clinic, the amount of work is enormous. Our ethics committee requested that we tell the subjects exactly why we do each measurement and how we will use it. We also need to get written consent from each of them. On top of this, we also work extensively with data protection agencies in order to ensure the right to privacy of all our subjects.” In the recent data collection, each
person came in for two full days in total, two weeks apart, during which they underwent extensive clinical testing. One
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of the main points of interest at this stage was looking into glucose metabolism. “We carried out glucose challenge tests, in which glucose is given and blood samples taken afterwards to determine how quickly it is metabolised from the blood. We were hoping to see whether we could find some early determinants for the onset of diabetes, which we have had some success with.” The fact that
Project Title: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies
Project Objective: The research programme followed the lives of Finnish people to provide data on the environmental, genetic and social determinants behind many of the diseases that we suffer today.
MAIN CONTACT this recent stint of data
collection took over two years to complete illustrates the detail in which each subject is scrutinised. As the cohort has aged, different diseases have started to emerge, and so there is a continual source of new topics to study. “Recent data we have collected included an extensive look into the signs of inflammation, which is implicated in a number of different diseases,” explains Järvelin. “We also gathered information on telomere length, something which has more recently been associated with ageing.” “Other measurements include brain
scans, cognitive tests and specific low back, pain and dental examinations, to give just a few examples. I don’t think there are any other studies in the world which have such extensive measurements all
the way through life, from the 12th
gestational week through to 50 years old and counting. We even have maternal pre-pregnancy height and weight as well as detailed growth measurements of the child from birth until adult age. It is for this reason that people from all around the world continue to be fascinated by these data – it is a truly unique and remarkable resource.”
★ 55
Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin is director of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies. She is also Professor and Chair in Lifecourse Epidemiology and Director of Postgraduate Studies at Imperial College London.
Contact: Tel: +358 (0)40 5606043 Email:
m.jarvelin@imperial.ac.uk
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