14.04.2024 – 11:50
NAKO Health Studies
Heidelberg (ots)
From May, the study centers of the NAKO health study will start the next follow-up examination. The participants in the study are invited to take medical tests and surveys about their living conditions for the third time. Scientists use the data collected to research the origins and causes of widespread diseases.
At the start of the third examination phase (third examination), the NAKO locations Berlin-Mitte, Berlin-Nord, Essen, Hanover, Leipzig, Neubrandenburg and Regensburg invite the participants of the NAKO health study to the study centers. The study centers Augsburg, Berlin-South/Brandenburg, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Halle, Hamburg, Kiel, Mannheim, Münster and Saarbrücken will gradually join, so that follow-up examinations will take place in all study centers nationwide from summer onwards.
The aim of the NAKO health study is to research the origin, frequency and causes of common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, dementia and heart attacks in order to improve prevention, early detection and treatment in Germany. “The more data that is collected within the study, the more meaningful the scientific results will be. Therefore, the participation of every individual is important for the success of the study. Thank you to everyone who continues to actively support the NAKO health study after 10 years. We look forward to it to all study centers to see our NAKO participants again,” says private lecturer Dr. Kerstin Wirkner, head of the Leipzig study center and spokesperson for the 18 NAKO study centers.
The participants were randomly selected 10 years ago via the residents’ registration offices and invited by the study centers to take part in Germany’s largest population study. Participation in the NAKO health study is not possible without this invitation. More than 200,000 people took part in the first basic examination. A follow-up examination takes place every four to five years. The participants are asked about their living conditions, examined with a series of standardized tests from blood pressure measurements to the hand grip test, and biomaterials such as blood or urine samples are collected. 30,000 participants also received a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. From now on, NAKO participants will receive an invitation to the third examination from their study center near their home.
“The NAKO health study makes a valuable contribution to the health of our society and a benefit for every individual. The collected pseudonymized data is evaluated in research projects in order to better understand the development of diseases. The combination of the size of the study population and the scope of the investigations makes the “NAKO health study worldwide in particular. With the repeated examinations we learn a lot about the changes in risk factors in relation to health maintenance and the development of disease, so that future generations will benefit from our scientific results,” says Professor Dr. Henry Völzke, Chairman of the Board of NAKO eV
Further information: Participation information for the third examination of the NAKO health study (PDF)
NAKO Health Studies
The NAKO health study is the largest long-term population study in Germany. Since 2014, over 200,000 randomly selected people have been medically examined and asked about their lifestyle habits in 18 study centers. At the start of the study, the participants were between the ages of 20 and 69.
The NAKO health study is a prospective epidemiological cohort study. The researchers observe a large group, a so-called cohort, of healthy, sick or formerly sick people over a long period of time. The aim is to use scientific evaluations of the participants’ data to clarify the frequency and causes of common diseases such as cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, to identify risk factors and to show ways for effective prevention and early detection.
The research project is supported by 26 institutions. Scientists from universities, the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association and other research institutes in Germany work together in a nationwide network. The study is carried out by the NAKO eV association. It is financed by public funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Helmholtz Association and the participating federal states.
www.nako.de
Press contact:
NAKO Health Studies
Dr. Friederike Fellenberg
+49 6221 – 426 2062
[email protected]
Original content from: NAKO health study, transmitted by news aktuell