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Approved Research

Genetic and Non-genetic determinants of cardio-metabolic diseases and its comorbidity

Principal Investigator: Dr Yongjian Wu
Approved Research ID: 91035
Approval date: August 25th 2022

Lay summary

Cardio-metabolic diseases (ischemia heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, valvular heart disease, etc.) are among the biggest causes of mortality among adults.

It is of great importance to identify risk factors for the prevention or delay the cardio-metabolic complications and premature death.

Aims!

1 To assess all risk factors within UK Biobank to determine whether they are causally associated with selected cardio-metabolic diseases and its comorbidity.

2 To assess the associations of trajectory changes of risk factors and imaging with the risk and mortality of specific cardio-metabolic diseases and multi-morbidity.

3 To establish the genetic risk scores and risk prediction score incorporating genetic and non-genetic factors for the specific cardio-metabolic diseases and multi-morbidity.

Scientific rationale!

A number of factors have been discovered that affect risk of developing various cardio-metabolic diseases, but many more remain to be found. Non-genetics factors (including dietary habits, exercise behavior, sleeping, nutritional status etc.) are well known to affect these diseases as well. Additionally, the interactions between genetic and non-genetic factors must be considered. Furthermore, there is still a lack of sufficient and robust evidence on estimating the risk and mortality of specific diseases and the trajectory changes of these factors in a population-based prospective cohort. A better comprehension of the factors that affect the probability of getting a cardio-metabolic disease is paramount for novel and more effective approaches to disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This project is expected to last for 36 months.

Public Health Impact!

Our study will promote the understanding of the etiology of cardio-metabolic complications in individuals with cardio-metabolic disorders, and will provide scientific evidence for early intervention and better disease management.