Biobanking across the phenome - at the center of chronic disease research.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recognized public health relevant risk factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, smoking or air pollution are common to many non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs cluster and co-morbidities increase in parallel to age. Pleiotropic genes and genetic variants have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) linking NCD entities hitherto thought to be distant in etiology. These different lines of evidence suggest that NCD disease mechanisms are in part shared.

Discussion

Identification of common exogenous and endogenous risk patterns may promote efficient prevention, an urgent need in the light of the global NCD epidemic. The prerequisite to investigate causal risk patterns including biologic, genetic and environmental factors across different NCDs

SUBMITTER: Imboden M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4222669 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature