Lung health and co-morbidities
An integrated epidemiological approach to understanding the relationship between lung health and multi-morbidity
The UK spends 70% of its healthcare budget caring for patients with multiple long-term health conditions such as dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); driven by aging populations and lifestyle factors, this figure is expected to rise. Chronic lung disease and dementia are therefore key global health challenges.
Cognition describes mental abilities, such as thinking, problem solving and remembering. Problems with cognition (cognitive dysfunction) can lead to dementia and appear very common in people with chronic lung disease. Although cognitive dysfunction may be mild and unnoticed at first, it may gradually make it more difficult for patients to perform their daily activities including taking medicines correctly. Cognitive dysfunction in chronic lung disease eventually leads to worse health, more time in hospital and shorter survival.
Individuals with chronic lung disease may be at increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to a combination of factors, which are both more frequent among those with lung disease and known to negatively impact on cognition (e.g., smoking and high blood pressure) or as a direct result of lung disease (e.g., low oxygen levels). However, there does seem to be a consistent link between cognitive impairment and lung disease independent of these shared factors, suggesting mechanisms specific to respiratory limitation.
The aim of this project is to determine whether chronic lung disease and cognitive impairment share a common causal pathway. It will do this by bringing together interdisciplinary expertise in epidemiology and statistics, to understand the complex interaction between genetic, developmental and early life events which determine lung health and cognition (MRC strategic aim 4).
It will also explore the relationship between early life cognition, co-morbidity and lung function trajectories using a population-based life course perspective applied to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (ALSPAC) cohort. (MRC strategic aim 1).
COPD
is characterised by more persistent symptoms due to consistent airway narrowing often due to exposure to noxious particles, particularly smoking, and affects 1.2million people in the UK.
