Health of a generation to be investigated
Genetic influences on disease and response to treatment will be
studied |
Generation
Scotland, a large study to investigate the influence of genetics and lifestyle on disease and response to treatment, started last week.
Researchers are planning to recruit 50,000 Scottish volunteers to the
study. The aim is to help identify groups of people at high risk of developing
heart disease, osteoporosis and mental illness. “We can also discover
which groups of the population respond best to which medicines, enabling
us to target those resources more effectively, making sure that the right
patients get the right treatment,” said health minister Andy Kerr.
The Generation Scotland study will be initially recruiting patients aged
35–55 years, along with their families, through GPs. Participants
will be asked to provide blood and urine samples, along with details
of their lifestyle and medical history. The health of the family will
be traced over 10 to 30 years.
The study is being run by the universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh
and Glasgow, and NHS Scotland. It is being funded by a £4.4m grant
from the Scottish Executive. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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