MRC Epidemiology UnitQuestionnaires
- Medical History
- Diet
- Physical Activity
- General Lifestyle
Measurements
Clinical Measurements
- Blood Pressure
- Electrocardiogram (ECG).
Body Composition
- Height, weight, hip and waist circumference will be measured
Physical Measurements
- Hand grip strength of both hands to assess muscular strength
- Cardiorespiratory fitness. Participants will be asked to rest by lying on a couch for 10 minutes. During this test we measure their resting energy expenditure by monitoring the air that they breathe. If they eligible, they will then be asked to walk on a treadmill for 16 minutes and if they can, to jog for 4 minutes. Alternatively, they may be asked to perform a self-paced walk test
Physical Activity
- Physical activity will be monitored in the week following the visit. Participants will be given a combined heart rate and movement sensor weighing less than 10 grams, to wear continuously for 6 days and nights, at the end of which is returned by freepost
- Participants will be asked to wear one or two additional monitors; a Global Positioning System Receiver (GPS) which can be worn discreetly on the waist and/or an accelerometer that is worn on the wrist
- Following the measurement period, participants may have the opportunity to annotate information about the context of their own data using the Annotation Tool. A video introduction to the Annotation Tool can be found on the link https://youtu.be/7v7ivI0H11M.
Blood Tests
- Blood samples will be taken to measure fasting blood glucose and fat (lipid) levels, and an oral glucose tolerance test performed. Participants will consume a harmless sugary drink and their response to the glucose in the drink is assessed through another blood sample taken 2 hours later. If they have been diagnosed with diabetes since their first visit they are still eligible to take part, however, we will only take an initial blood sample and they will not need to consume the sugary drink
- In Phase 2 we will also invite some participants to donate a blood sample for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for research purposes. These cells are induced from circulating white blood cells, and the different experimentally derived cell types will be used to investigate pathways that link our genetic profiles with metabolic disease. The cells we will generate will not be of direct benefit to participants or anyone else in the treatment of disease and will only be used for experimental research purposes
