Early prevention of diseases improves individual health outcomes and the capacity of the healthcare system. A study conducted at the University of Turku aims at discovering breakthroughs for improving public health and seeks pre-emptive ways to prevent diseases.
Let us stop for a moment to imagine what our healthcare system would be like if diseases were prevented more effectively. Patients prone to certain illnesses would be recognised before the onset of the illness, making early intervention with the risk factors possible. With preventive healthcare, there would be less need for major and expensive procedures. This would save resources and result in more personalised care of higher quality for patients that need more demanding care.
Does this sound good? Researchers of the Early diagnostics, prevention and interventions of non-communicable diseases (LIFE) think so and their goal is to understand the early steps of disease development better in order to enable preventive treatment.
The research consortium is focused on major non-communicable diseases related to genes and lifestyle, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. For now, the researchers are focused on prostate cancer and atrial fibrillation in particular, both of which are significant common diseases.
“In order to secure our healthcare system, people should live as long and healthy a life as possible. There has been progress in relation to cardiovascular diseases, for example, as the death rate in Finland has decreased to a quarter since the 1970s. At the moment, the biggest challenge is obesity, which has increased significantly among the public. In many diseases, the risk factors are the same: immobility, poor diet and obesity,” notes Professor of Internal Medicine Markus Juonala, who is one of the two principal investigators of the research consortium.
Researchers of the University of Turku have already demonstrated in longitudinal demographic studies that the risks for several diseases can be decreased with lifestyle interventions in childhood.
The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study has shown that risk factors diagnosed in childhood predict arterial diseases, such as coronary artery disease, stroke, disorders of the cerebral circulation and circulatory disorders of the lower limbs. If the weight of those who were overweight in childhood has decreased to a regular level by adulthood, the risk for coronary artery diseases is smaller.
Another longitudinal study has shown that a lifestyle intervention lasting throughout childhood has been able to have a significant impact on the cholesterol levels of the participants. During the regular research visits taking place between the age of eight months and 20 years, the participants of the study were encouraged to exercise in various ways, eat healthy and avoid smoking.
Now, the aim of the researchers is to collect more precise information of the onset phase of the diseases with more advanced methods, in order for people to live healthy longer and to secure the capacity of the healthcare system.
“At the moment, the expected value of a healthy life is practically the same in Western and Latin American countries. In other words, pouring money into healthcare is not enough alone to add healthy years to people’s lives. Instead, we should be able to influence people's lifestyle. Interventions carried out early can be realised lightly, which also makes them cheap. When we find the reasons behind the diseases, we can start creating early diagnostics,” says Professor of Medical Physics and Engineering, Dean of Faculty of Medicine Pekka Hänninen, who is the other principal investigator in the research consortium.
Read the whole article on the University of Turku website: Pursuing Long and Healthy Life
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Text: Jenni Valta
Translation: Saara Yli-Kauhaluoma
