In 1948, more than 5,000 people living in a town outside Boston, US, volunteered for what became the world’s longest-running study of the causes of heart disease.
The Framingham Heart Study uncovered many factors for heart disease, which we now take for granted, including cigarette smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, and high blood pressure. It also revealed important clues about brain disorders – most notably strokes but also cognitive decline and dementia.
Long-term cohort studies of a similar nature in Europe and North America have also established baselines for factors such as cholesterol, facilitating the development of lifesaving drugs for millions of people.
However, until recently less than one per cent of research into genetic variation comes from the Middle East, which is unfortunate given our uncommonly high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease – for reasons we don’t fully understand. Here’s why a study of this nature really matters as we look to address health issues in the UAE.
Big data benefits
The accrual of region-specific data on lifestyles, genetics, and health outcomes of a large group of individuals, tracked over a prolonged period, provides insights into the prevalence and incidence of these conditions, with many benefits to society.
Researchers can identify particular risk factors, which enables public health interventions that are culturally appropriate and targeted towards the most significant factors contributing to these health issues.
Cohort studies also help us understand how these health issues manifest in one region compared with another, which can lead to international collaborations and learning. By addressing these prevalent health issues effectively, the economic burden associated with treating chronic diseases can be reduced.
Regional solution
It is for these reasons that NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) established one of the region’s first long cohort studies of its kind in 2016. The UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS) has a long-term mission to determine how the health of UAE national men and women is affected by their lifestyle, environment, and genes, specifically looking at risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
The UAEHFS is run with the support of partners, including the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, Dubai Health Authority, and the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and through collaboration with universities and hospitals in the UAE. So far, it has recruited over 14,260 participants.
These efforts have led to a raft of new research, including 47 articles in peer-reviewed international journals. Topics include the interrelationship of cardiometabolic risk factors for young Emiratis, and the forecasting of an increase in cardiovascular disease in the UAE.
The first study in the world to look at the effect of incense (bakhoor) on the oral microbiome suggests that such exposure could have adverse effects on health. Papers were also written on how different types of tobacco consumption affect the oral microbiome; the association between depression, happiness, and sleep duration; and the associations between vitamin D, body mass index, and body fat composition among Emirati population.
The team also studied how maternal early-life risk factors lead to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), finding that maternal birthweight and parental history of diabetes were significantly associated with later GDM. The study concluded that close glucose monitoring during pregnancy among females with either a low birth weight and/or parental history of diabetes might help to prevent GDM among this high-risk group.
The large amounts of data will form a research platform and may provide valuable information to develop better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies for chronic diseases.
We must caution that common diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, asthma, and depression are defined by many genes, as well as environmental factors and lifestyle choices. But genetic data helps at least establish some risk parameters and baselines.
It’s exciting to think about the potential for future advances. In a world where common diseases afflict too many of our population, we are now amassing the data that can help us mitigate and even one day solve those challenges.
