The Jackson Heart Study
Description : The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a collaborative
research project to investigate risk factors for cardiovascular disease
in African American men and women living in Jackson, MS. JHS is a single-site
prospective epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease (CVD)
among African-Americans from the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area
The
Jackson Heart Study plans to include up to 6,500 African-American men
and women between the ages of 35 and 84 and will invite all previous ARIC
participants (approximately 59 to 78 years of age in 2000) along with
younger and older men and women from a larger geographic area. Participants
will be randomly selected in order to be representative of African-American
residents of Jackson, Mississippi. Family members will be included in
order to permit future studies of familial and genetic contributions to
CVD.
The initial examination phase of the study is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2000 and will take approximately three years to complete. An extensive examination is includes a series of questionnaires (dealing with lifestyle habits, medical history, medications, social and cultural function) and laboratory measurements (cholesterol and other lipids, glucose, indicators related to clotting of the blood, among others). The information collected includes both conventional risk factors and new or emerging factors that may be related to CVD. Some of the newer areas of focus include early indicators of disease, genetics, socio-cultural influences such as socio-economic status and discrimination, and physiological relations between common disorders such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes and their influence on CVD.
Prior to the examination, a series of community meetings and focus groups were held and a survey conducted to identify ways to enhance participation in the initial and subsequent examinations and ways to strengthen awareness of CVD prevention. The Jackson Heart Study will be the largest investigation of CVD that has been undertaken in an African-American population.
The JHS is sponsored by the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National
Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) at the National
Institutes of Health. It is a partnership between NHLBI, NCMHD and three
local institutions: Jackson State University,
Tougaloo College and the University
of Mississippi Medical Center.
| Contact Info: Jackson Heart Study 350 W.Woodrow Wilson Drive Suite 701 Jackson, MS 39213 jhs@jsums.edu 601-368-4650 |
Website: http://ccaix.jsums.edu/~jhs/ http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/jackson/2ndpg.htm http://www.jsums.edu/~jhs/jhs_overview.htm http://www.cscc.unc.edu/jhs/jhswdesc.html |
National Institutes of Health (NIH)