Wycombe Hospital study seeks volunteers to understand South Asian health disparities
People of South Asian heritage are being invited to a health assessment as part of a research study to understand why some conditions are more common in their community.
Volunteers aged 25 to 85 of Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi and Sri-Lankan heritage are sought to provide information, undergo tests and give samples during a 90-minute assessment at Wycombe Hospital.
They will receive a report about their results and be referred to NHS care if the assessment identifies any concerns.
The international ‘Investigation of lifestyle, environmental, genomic and molecular factors underlying health outcomes in South Asians and Europeans’ (LOLIPOP 100K) study seeks to identify why South Asian heritage people are at high risk of heart disease, diabetes and other critical illnesses.
South Asian heritage people have twice the risk of cardiovascular disease and three-times the risk of diabetes compared to other Europeans. These differences are not explained by ‘classic’ risk factors, including insulin resistance and obesity, or known genetics factors.
Anonymised data will feed into the South Asia Biobank for researchers to access to analyse why these conditions affect South Asian heritage people more.
The biobank aims to be the largest worldwide biological data resource to determine how and why disease susceptibility differs across populations.
Dr Piers Clifford, the study’s principal investigator at Wycombe Hospital, said: “This important study aims to understand the reasons why patients of South Asian origin are at greater risk of developing some diseases.
“It also provides a valuable opportunity for our South Asian heritage people to receive a comprehensive cardiovascular health screen so that we can intervene earlier on any risk factors that we identify.
“The report that the patient will receive contains a wealth of advice on how to reduce cardiovascular risk and should go a long way towards reducing inequalities in outcomes for our high risk communities.”
People can sign up via the sabiobank.org website. Some Buckinghamshire GP practices will also be contacting patients by text message to ask if they would like to take part.
Participation involves a 90-minute visit to Wycombe Hospital which involves:
- A questionnaire about participants’ health
- Measurement of height, weight, waist and hip size, and body fat
- A blood pressure check
- A electrocardiogram (ECG) to measure heart rhythm and electrical activity
- A breathing test to measure lung function
- A photograph of the back of the eyes
- A blood and urine sample
Participants will then be asked to wear a wrist watch which monitors physical activity, for a week.
Researchers will follow participants’ health through NHS and other health related records over the long term for 20 or more years to give a fuller picture of disease prevalence.
The study - which aims to recruit 200,000 people over the next three years - is funded by the Wellcome Trust and overseen by Imperial College, the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research.
For more information and to register visit www.sabiobank.org or call 0204 542 8494.
