Approved Research

Based on multimodal data to explore the associations between life's eight essentials and hydration status and cardiometabolic multimorbidity and other age-related diseases in older adults

Lay summary

Aims: This study intend to focus on the older adults (aged 50 years old) to explore the associations between life's 8 essentials, hydration status and cardiometabolic diseases and other aged-related diseases (including cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney diseases, osteoporosis, cognitive function, sarcopenia and mental health).

Scientific rational: The trend of global population aging is increasing due to increased longevity. Recently, GBD 2019 data found that ischemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes remain the leading causes of death in the global elderly population. Healthier lifestyles such as stopping smoking, increasing physical activity and having a balanced diet (e.g., eating more fruit and vegetables and reducing salt intake) have been broadly acknowledged as critical factors in reducing the burden of diseases. In addition, proper hydration is also critical to physiological functioning and health. The impact of low water intake and unhealthy lifestyle on health is under-researched using UK biobank. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the impact of low water intake and an unhealthy lifestyle (based on the Life's 8 Essentials proposed by the American Heart Association) on cardiometabolic diseases and other aged-related chronic diseases, especially in the elderly population, as this could affect many people in the UK. Existing studies might be limited by small sample size, suboptimal control for important confounders, or both. Therefore, we proposed to investigate the associations between life's 8 essentials, hydration status and cardiometabolic diseases and other aged-related diseases and this study based on the genetic data, biochemistry markers, the use of medications and imaging feature using genetic risk score (GRS) and deep learning methods to further reveal the potential mechanisms.

Project duration: This project is part of a PhD thesis expected to last 3 years (36 months), considering the time for data clean, statistical analysis, manuscript writing and sending the manuscript to a medical journal with possible revisions.This project will be extended if the research cannot be completed on time.

Public health impact: This study will provide new directions and epidemiological evidence for middle-aged and older adults to prevent cardiometabolic diseases and other aged-related diseases. If increasing water intake and adherence to a healthy lifestyle has the potential to reduce the risk of these health outcomes, it is important to conduct research using the UK Biobank and inform the public accordingly. Informing the public is critical, especially because current large sample population-based cohort studies of the effects of dehydration and lifestyle are inadequate.