Renewed calls for 20,000 volunteers for study into the nation’s health
Predictions of declining life expectancy in the UAE have added yet more urgency to a study into what is causing the country’s high rates of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
The country is bucking the international trend when it comes to cardiac disease, said Dr Raghib Ali, director of the Public Health Research Centre at New York University Abu Dhabi.
“In most western, developed nations, heart disease has been falling for many years, but in the UAE, after a period when it was falling, it has started to increase again,” Dr Ali said.
“Now the UAE, for the first time since the country was created, is facing declining life expectancy because of the increased risk of heart disease.”
Dr Ali said he hoped a longterm study he was leading into the causes of the UAE’s most predominant diseases would help to address and prevent these public health issues.
“Our study is focusing on obesity, diabetes and heart disease, because heart disease is the number one killer, and diabetes is the number one risk factor for heart disease, and obesity is the number one risk factor for diabetes,” said Dr Ali, principal investigator of the UAE Healthy Future Study that began this year.
The university and its Langone Medical Centre have collaborated with partners in Abu Dhabi for the study and are looking for 20,000 Emirati volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 40 years, to take part.
Three thousand have registered since the study was announced in February.
“In general, people are very happy to take part,” Dr Ali said. “They see it as a service to the community and to the nation.
“Most people know someone in their family who either has diabetes or has heart disease, and they recognise that this is the only way to really understand what the cause of these diseases are among Emiratis. And once they understand that, the majority are not just willing but keen to take part.”
A UAE Healthy Future Study registration and assessment centre opened at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi last month to encourage more Emirati volunteers.
The registration process takes about 45 minutes. It includes filling out a questionnaire, providing body measurements and samples of blood, urine and saliva.
Recruitment will continue through next year and Dr Ali said he expected the first follow-up with the volunteers to take place in 2019.
Expatriates are excluded because those taking part must be present for assessments beyond the 2019 follow-up.
It will take at least 10 years for researchers to collect a minimum amount of data that will allow them to understand the role genetics and lifestyle choices play in causing obesity, diabetes and heart disease among Emiratis.
“We have a lot of data from western populations and a little bit from China and India and a few other populations, but we have no local data,” Dr Ali said.
“The ultimate aim of this study is to prevent these diseases, but the first step is to understand how important the different risk factors are because they are not the same in every population, so we need local data.”
Volunteers can sign up at the Healthy Future registration and assessment centre near the main reception area at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
The study is being conducted in collaboration with Zayed Military Hospital, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Healthpoint Hospital, Abu Dhabi Blood Bank, Al Ain Regional Blood Bank, UAE University, Khalifa University and Zayed University.
More information available at UAEHealthyFuture.ae or call the study team on 8002327.
We have a lot of data from western populations and a bit from China and India, but we have no local data