This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Families hold key to health research
02/02/2006
The Executive is investing £4.4 million to set up a study into the ways genetic and lifestyle factors cause heart disease, osteoporosis and mental illness.
Generation Scotland, a long term programme being run in conjunction with the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and NHS Scotland, is looking to recruit up to 50,000 Scots volunteers and their families for the research.
The findings will help identify groups of the population at high risk of developing inherited conditions, and allow early treatments with new drugs designed to combat such diseases. The genetic information will also help adapt prescription drugs to individual needs.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said:
"Preventative advice and medicine is an increasing part of our drive towards better health in Scotland.
"If we can identify groups of people at risk of particular conditions, such as heart disease, osteoporosis or mental illness, we can give them the support they need early in life to avoid problems, or if they are older, work with them to manage their conditions more effectively.
"We can also discover which groups of the population respond best to which medicines, enabling us to target those resources more effectively, making sure that the right patients get the right treatment.
"Not only is this good for the individual being treated, but it frees up resources which we can then use elsewhere in the NHS.
"And the benefits of the research don't stop there. We have the potential to develop novel therapies which not only help patients but also help the Scottish biotechnology economy.
"That's why we are looking for individuals and their families to volunteer for this anonymous study - to help unlock the secrets of Scots' health and bring real health benefits to those living with disease and to the next generation."
The first wave of volunteers to the study, those aged 35-55 and their family members, are being recruited through general practitioners, and will provide confidentially and anonymous stored biological samples and medical information for the databank.
Collecting information by family means that scientists can more easily determine which illnesses are inherited and which are due to other factors.
Participants will be asked to provide information about lifestyle and diet, their medical history and samples of blood and urine. These will then be tracked over the coming years to see whether there are any patterns between family members and particular illnesses.
While the long-term nature study will not report back to individuals about individual genetic tests, any immediate health concerns highlighted by the tests will be fed back to patients and GPs.
For this project, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental illness have been selected for tracking, as they are major contributors to ill-health in Scotland.
The lecture 'Generation Scotland: genomic science supporting public health' will be delivered today at the Royal College of Surgeons by Professor Andrew Morris, University of Dundee and Professor David Porteous, University of Edinburgh. The lecture will be chaired by Health Minister Andy Kerr.
The research will be overseen by the Generation Scotland Advisory Board, an independent panel appointed by the Executive to ensure that the public interest is of the highest priority. Chaired by Lord Sutherland, it includes experts in genetics, law and ethics, as well as lay members.