Some groups of people are more likely than others to develop multiple long term health conditions (MLTC). This can be caused by their exposure to inflammation which is when the body reacts to stimuli such as infection, damaged cells, or irritants.
We want to know if the amount of long term (chronic) inflammation that someone has can predict MLTC and if poor diet, age, sex, and ethnicity combine in ways that affect inflammation. We hope to understand how to prevent the inflammation so that high-risk people are less likely to develop MLTC.
Our analysis will use complex computing methods (artificial intelligence) and will build on earlier preliminary work by our group in the UK Biobank, to see how different patterns, or clusters, of MLTCs develop in people over time. We will focus on how inflammation, diet and poor nutrition predict the onset and progression of MLTC, and how this interacts with an individual’s many unique characteristics.
This project forms part of a programme of work funded by NIHR that aims to apply knowledge on how inflammation and nutrition influence the development of MLTC that will help health professionals and policymakers deliver prevention opportunely..
