China News Service, Changchun, March 2 (Reporter Guo Jia) "The establishment of large-scale population cohorts has a huge role in promoting national overall medical research, and will continue to strengthen over time, thus continuing to produce high-level results that change health policies and clinical practices. level research evidence." Lu Guoyue, a representative of the National People's Congress and secretary of the Party Committee of Jilin University First Hospital, said in an interview on the eve of the National Two Sessions in 2024.
A population cohort study is a prospective epidemiological research method that follows selected healthy people over a period of time to study how certain factors affect the risk of specific health outcomes.
Lu Guoyue.
(File photo) Photo courtesy of Jilin University First Hospital
Lu Guoyue introduced that developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands have achieved world-renowned scientific research results in medicine through the construction of natural population cohorts.
China has carried out cohort studies for more than 60 years. Original research results obtained from cohorts such as the China Prospective Study of Chronic Diseases have a certain international influence. However, they are still insufficient for a country with a large population.
Lu Guoyue said that at present, the construction of natural population cohorts across China is basically led by scientific research teams. However, the construction of natural population cohorts requires a large investment in manpower, financial resources and time, and requires long-term support from local governments and all sectors of society.
"The construction of natural population queues is highly dependent on the stability, continuity and durability of supporting policies. The support and participation of governments at all levels, relevant departments and all parties directly determine and affect the quantity and quality of its construction." Lu Guoyue said.
In 2023, with the support of many academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lu Guoyue presided over the establishment of the Meihekou City natural population cohort in Meihekou City, Jilin Province. This cohort aims to understand chronic diseases during the economic transition period (urbanization) in Northeast China. Characteristics.
For example, Lu Guoyue said that the Framingham Heart Study cohort in the United States is the longest follow-up cohort in the world, with a history of more than 70 years. Basically, all the well-known heart disease interventions and dietary modification methods in the world come from this cohort study.
How to widely establish a natural population queue that is consistent with national conditions?
Lu Guoyue proposed that the construction of natural population cohorts should be included in the strategic layout of the construction of a healthy China and high-quality regional economic and social development, to obtain full-chain and all-round support for the construction of natural population cohorts, and to improve the informatization and intelligence of natural population cohort research. level.
Lv Guoyue said that population cohort is the current international cutting-edge scientific research model, an important foundation of the national public health system, and an indispensable strategic resource for biomedical research.
Establishing a large-scale natural population cohort based on local characteristics will be able to support medical research through long-term and stable large-sample data, deeply reveal the scientific basis, and analyze the cause structure.
Therefore, it is of great and far-reaching significance to widely establish a natural population cohort that is consistent with China's national conditions.
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