TITLE:
Design of the Saitama Cardiometabolic Disease and Organ Impairment Study (SCDOIS): A Multidisciplinary Observational Epidemiological Study
AUTHORS:
Toshitaka Muneyuki, Kaname Suwa, Haruki Oshida, Tomoya Takaoka, Ayano Kutsuma, Tsukasa Yoshida, Masafumi Saito, Yumiko Hori, Yoshihiko Kannno, Eiichiro Kanda, Masafumi Kakei, Shin-Ichi Momomura, Kei Nakajima
KEYWORDS:
Obesity; Cardiometabolic Risks; Organ Impairments; Asians; Diabetes; Nutrition; Saitama; Checkup
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
23,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Background: In the past few decades, the incidence of cardiometabolic diseases
and disorders of the liver, kidney, pancreas, heart, and lung, have been
increasing in Western and Asian countries, including Japan. Numerous factors, including
abnormal body weight (obesity, overweight, or underweight), infrequent exercise,
and other unfavorable lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and heavy alcohol
drinking) have been proposed as risk factors for the development and the
progression of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia,
which ultimately lead to impaired organ function and possibly death. However,
the mechanisms that link these risk factors with diseases are still poorly understood,
and the potential treatments, including pharmacotherapy and diet, have not been
fully evaluated. Methods: In 2011,
we established a new collaborative research program, the Saitama
Cardiometabolic Disease and Organ Impairment Study (SCDOIS). This
multidisciplinary observational epidemiological research study was designed to
cover several high-profile diseases and some traditional fields of internal
medicine, as well as apparently unrelated fields and particular lifestyle
factors, such as unhealthy eating behaviors. In a series of studies, apparently
healthy subjects who underwent a regular medical checkup were retrospectively
identified based on the results of their medical checkups. In this way, the
incidence, prevalence, causality, and clinical relevance of specific conditions
and diseases have been investigated in cross-sectional analyses of 100,000 - 200,000
adults, and in longitudinal studies of several thousand subjects who underwent
medical checkups multiple times. Discussion: This article describes the background, rationale, purpose, and
methods of the SCDOIS. Using data obtained from annual medical checkups, our
goals are to 1) establish criteria or identify clinical features that would
enable clinicians to detect the presence of abnormal conditions associated with
cardiometabolic diseases and/or organ impairment much earlier in the disease
course; and 2) determine the potential mechanisms and therapies for these
conditions.