Abstract
The Rotterdam Study is an ongoing prospective cohort study that started in 1990 in the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The study aims to unravel etiology, preclinical course, natural history and potential targets for intervention for chronic diseases in mid-life and late-life. The study focuses on cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric, dermatological, otolaryngological, locomotor, and respiratory diseases.As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. Since 2016, the cohort is being expanded by persons aged 40 years and over. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in over 1700 research articles and reports. This article provides an update on the rationale and design of the study. It also presents a summary of the major findings from the preceding 3 years and outlines developments for the coming period.
Highlights
The Rotterdam Study was designed in the mid-1980s as a response to the demographic changes worldwide that were leading to an increase of the proportion of elderly people [1]
Besides contribution to the global genetic discovery for coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), and type 2 diabetes (T2D) [93,94,95], we showed the biological interactions between genetic variants driving differential methylation and gene expression for T2D and highlighted the role of differential methylation in the crosstalk between adaptive immune system and glucose homeostasis [96]
We have demonstrated that even in people without thyroid disease, high normal concentrations of thyroid hormones are related to an increased risk of sudden cardiac death [182], cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [183], dementia [184], frailty [185], type 2 diabetes [186] cancer risk [45], and a pro-coagulant state [187]
Summary
M. Arfan Ikram1 · Guy Brusselle1,2 · Mohsen Ghanbari1 · André Goedegebure3 · M. Kamran Ikram1,4 · Maryam Kavousi1 · Brenda C. W. Klaver1,5 · Robert J. de Knegt6 · Annemarie I.
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