What Makes this Study Different?
The answer is BIG data.
This study plans to gather more data about heart health from more people than any research study has done before. We'll use it to develop strategies to prevent and treat all aspects of heart disease. It's as simple as that.
Our Goals
You Can Help Us Advance Science
We're looking for all kinds of people over 18, including those who are completely healthy, those who have heart disease, and even patients with cardiovascular disease that we don't yet know how to treat. So, join the study, be a part of something big, and help make a contribution to science.
Just a few things we hope to achieve:
Develop new and more accurate ways to predict heart disease based on measurements, behavior patterns, genetics, and family and medical history
Understand the causes of heart disease (including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes) and find new ways to prevent it
Create personalized tools you can use yourself to forecast when you might develop heart disease or, if you have it already, when you might be getting worse
The Science
Using Big Data to Answer Our Questions
Our team of talented and diverse academic physicians and researchers has questions—and your health information will help us get the answers. We'll use your secure data, along with data from other participants to answer specific scientific questions that will eventually help us reduce deaths from heart disease.
Just a few things we're investigating:
Can we predict heart disease based on measurements, behavior patterns (sleep, diet, activity), and family and medical history? Can we look at everyday habits in real time to determine how they affect our cardiovascular health?
Can we use technology to develop ways to improve cardiovascular health and rigorously test them to determine their effects on health? Can we use technology to help people live a more heart-healthy lifestyle?
Can we determine what causes episodes of atrial fibrillation? How do behaviors, diet, other diseases and genes interact to cause it?
Can we use mobile technology and sensors to keep people with heart failure out of the hospital?
Does being more connected with people improve heart health? Who are your friends and how do you communicate with them? And, are online social networks as beneficial to health as real-world networks? Does more time spent on Facebook translate into more social connectedness and better health, or into more screen time, less exercise, and less time spent cooking healthy meals?
Can we predict when heart disease, such as heart failure, coronary disease, or hypertension, will get worse before someone needs hospitalization (and even before the patient knows something is wrong)? Credit card companies use Big Data to alert you when your card has been stolen before you even realize it's gone; Netflix can recommend movies you've never heard of before. Can't we do something similar for heart disease?
Are people with different kinds of genes more vulnerable to particular heart disease risks? For example, alcohol may be "good" for heart health for some people but not others and your genes might help us figure that out for you.
You are the Key
Here's how we'll get you involved
Being part of a study is a real commitment, but we've made it easier than ever to make a difference. Everyone who participates will answer survey questions, and we'll ask many of you to do a whole lot more (though you'll always have the chance to opt out).
Just a few ways we'll ask you to contribute:
Answer surveys.
We'll ask you questions about your health and behaviors, and ask you to update them every six months on your computer or smartphone. You don't have to complete them in one sitting, but you'll need to get to them all eventually.
Collect data at home.
If you want, you can use your own scale, blood pressure machine, and more to collect measurements and send them to us using our secure system. We might even mail you a "spit kit" to collect your DNA.
Connect with your social media profile.
We might ask if we can see how you use your Facebook or other social media accounts. Don't worry: we won't share any information with Facebook or anyone else. We'll just use that data for research to improve heart health.
Use new technology.
Some participants will wear special sensors or add cool gadgets to their smartphone to track measurements on the go.
Download apps.
If you have a smartphone, you will be able to download free apps to record pulse, weight, sleep, activity, behavior, and more as we develop them.
Tell us when you go to the hospital.
It's critical for us to know when you have any sort of health event like a heart attack or something else that brings you to the hospital for treatment.
Visit our study center for tests.
Some people who can make it to our clinic in San Francisco will be invited to come in and participate in sophisticated heart health tests.
Send us your relevant medical records.
Fax, use a secure phone app, or allow your doctor to release test results to keep all our records up to date. This is optional, but important.
Stay with us for a long time.
We hope you stick with the study for many years. It's the only way we'll know who develops heart disease and who doesn't. We're guessing about 30-60 minutes every six months is all it takes, and even that doesn't have to be done all at one time.