Study of 100 000 children is due to start next year
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
A US study of 100 000 children that will look at environmental influences on their health took a step forward last week, when the US government announced it had granted the first six contracts for the study.
The national children抯 study, described as the largest of its type ever undertaken, has been five years in the planning and will cost an estimated $2.7bn (?.5bn; �2.3bn). It was mandated by Congress in 2000 and is being run together with other federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study will be ready to enlist its first participants next year, said Dr Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health, at a press conference in Washington, DC, announcing the contracts. He called the study "a giant step towards improving children抯 health."
Among those awarded contracts are the University of California, Irvine, with Children's Hospital of Orange County, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York with Columbia University Mailman School of Pubic Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, and Columbia University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, New York.
When fully operating the study will follow 100 000 children from early life梚n some instances it will even monitor women before they become pregnant梪ntil the age of 21, with the object of seeking the root causes of many childhood and adult diseases. The children will be a representative sample chosen according to geography, ethnic group, and socioeconomic background.
It will examine environmental influences on health including the effects of diet, ambient air, and the home and school environment. Biological samples will be gathered from the children and their parents and will be analysed for exposure to environmental factors, said Dr Alexander.
"We are looking to find the root causes of many diseases and disorders and so prevent them from occurring," said another speaker at the press conference, Richard Carmona, the US surgeon general. Dr Carmona cited factors such as second hand tobacco smoke, lead, radon, and asbestos. He noted that one in five schools in the United States had problems with the quality of indoor air. He predicted that findings from the study might lead to ways to prevent or treat many common conditions.
The first data from the study will be available in 2010 or 2012 and will be published in professional journals and other channels of information as they become available, said Dr Alexander. He said that the findings will benefit the whole country, not just the participants.
The study has attracted widespread interest, not only in the US but also in Canada in particular and in several European countries, Dr Peter Scheidt, the study抯 director, told the BMJ. The study instigators hope that if other countries decide to do similar studies their data can be also included.(Washington, DC Charles Marwick)
The national children抯 study, described as the largest of its type ever undertaken, has been five years in the planning and will cost an estimated $2.7bn (?.5bn; �2.3bn). It was mandated by Congress in 2000 and is being run together with other federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study will be ready to enlist its first participants next year, said Dr Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health, at a press conference in Washington, DC, announcing the contracts. He called the study "a giant step towards improving children抯 health."
Among those awarded contracts are the University of California, Irvine, with Children's Hospital of Orange County, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York with Columbia University Mailman School of Pubic Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, and Columbia University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, New York.
When fully operating the study will follow 100 000 children from early life梚n some instances it will even monitor women before they become pregnant梪ntil the age of 21, with the object of seeking the root causes of many childhood and adult diseases. The children will be a representative sample chosen according to geography, ethnic group, and socioeconomic background.
It will examine environmental influences on health including the effects of diet, ambient air, and the home and school environment. Biological samples will be gathered from the children and their parents and will be analysed for exposure to environmental factors, said Dr Alexander.
"We are looking to find the root causes of many diseases and disorders and so prevent them from occurring," said another speaker at the press conference, Richard Carmona, the US surgeon general. Dr Carmona cited factors such as second hand tobacco smoke, lead, radon, and asbestos. He noted that one in five schools in the United States had problems with the quality of indoor air. He predicted that findings from the study might lead to ways to prevent or treat many common conditions.
The first data from the study will be available in 2010 or 2012 and will be published in professional journals and other channels of information as they become available, said Dr Alexander. He said that the findings will benefit the whole country, not just the participants.
The study has attracted widespread interest, not only in the US but also in Canada in particular and in several European countries, Dr Peter Scheidt, the study抯 director, told the BMJ. The study instigators hope that if other countries decide to do similar studies their data can be also included.(Washington, DC Charles Marwick)