The role of nutrition in the prevention of common diseases
Table of contents
Project description
Non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, type 2 diabetes as well as Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, are diseases whose onset is influenced by both genetic and lifestyle factors. One of the most important modifiable lifestyle factors that is associated with a risk of mortality and morbidity is diet.
This research project examines whether healthy dietary habits can reduce the risk of disease also in individuals with a high genetic predisposition to a disease. In addition, this study aims to investigate if adolescent dietary habits are already associated with biological aging and subsequent disease risk. Finally, this study investigates if the strength of the link between dietary habits and disease risk is influenced by other lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and smoking.
The study utilizes genetically informed designs, such as twin models and computational genetics methods. The data used in the study are the Finnish twin cohort data and the data generated by biobank recall survey.
