GENDIS · Genetic Determinants of Disability in Older Women: British Women’s Heart & Health Study
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2011-07-01 → 2013-07-31
- EU contribution
- €145,387
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IEF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Genetic Determinants of Disability in Older Women: British Women’s Heart & Health Study
Executive Summary: The burden of disability in older adults on resources of health care systems in many European countries has increased in recent years due to ageing populations. This Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship was aimed to identify women that are at high risk of developing locomotor disability and to delineate potential causal pathways resulting in locomotor disability with a special focus on inflammatory response. An additional goal of the fellowship was that the researcher gained competencies in disability research and genetic epidemiology. Achievements: - Development and validation of a prognostic model for locomotor disability, which can be used for risk assessment and risk stratification. An online calculator for risk of disability in older adults will be freely available. - Aetiological research suggested a role of inflammation and coagulation in the development of locomotor disability in elderly women irrespective of their lifestyle factors and underlying age-related chronic diseases. - The researcher gained skills in genetic epidemiology while leading a Mendelian randomisation project in a large consortium of studies and strengthened her research competencies. Impact: In conclusion, this fellowship contributed to a better understanding about prediction and aetiology of locomotor disability. The online calculator may help GPs and other health care professionals to identify people with higher risks of disability in order to prioritise allocation to preventive or care programs to those with the greatest need. The role of interventions to reduce inflammatory and coagulatory responses provides a novel approach which now requires evaluation. Contact: Prof. Shah Ebrahim London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine E-mail: shah.ebrahim@lshtm.ac.uk
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Background: Increased life expectancy and decreased birth rates resulted in more elderly people and in a higher prevalence of chronic diseases and associated disability throughout the EU. However, evidence of genetic variants associated with increased risk of disability and of causal links between underlying diseases and disability is limited.Objectives: To identify women who are at higher risk of disability and to delineate potential causal pathways resulting in disability with a special focus on inflammatory response. Specific objectives are:1) To develop defined phenotypes of disability from different dimensions of the concept of disability.2) To evaluate the effect of selected sets of biomarkers or physical measurements as proxies for different biological pathways with disability phenotypes.3) To identify genetic variants associated with disability phenotypes.4) To estimate the magnitude of causal associations between levels of selected inflammatory markers and disability phenotypes based on the concept of Mendelian randomisation.Methods: Already existing data from the British Women’s Heart and Health Study, a large prospective cohort study in the UK, will be used for this project. Latent class analysis will be used to delineate distinct phenotypes of disability. Associations between disability and different sets of biomarkers as proxies for biological pathways will be estimated with structural equation models. Selected genetic variants will be tested for association with disability. Causal effects of inflammatory response on disability will be evaluated in a Mendelian randomisation analysis.Relevance: This project will contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology of disability and will provide novel insights into biological mechanisms underlying different disability phenotypes in elderly women. Results may help to improve predictions of long-term effects and inform implementation of preventive measures and optimal treatment strategies.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE ROYAL CHARTER · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union