Australia's 100,000-person study targets mental health and early-onset cancer
Decoding mental health and early-onset cancer
The Sax Institute, an independent non-profit, launched this initiative on Thursday. It targets adults aged 18 to 45. The goal is to identify the root causes of mental health issues and increasing cancer rates in young people.
Associate Professor Justine Gatt, the study's scientific director, highlighted the lack of long-term data for younger generations. Existing studies only provide a single snapshot in time. Gatt noted that nearly two in five Australians aged 16 to 24 suffered a mental health condition in the previous year. This number continues to rise.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 44. This creates an urgent need to understand the underlying factors. Better understanding will improve prevention and treatment efforts.
Building on the 45 and Uplegacy
This initiative builds on the success of the 45 and Upproject. Launched two decades ago, it is now the largest population-based cohort study in the Southern Hemisphere. It includes over 267,000 participants aged 45 and older.
Over the years, participant responses have been linked to other databases. This led to significant findings on smoking, dementia prevention, and cardiovascular outcomes. Children and grandchildren of 45 and Upparticipants will be invited to join the new study.
This approach allows researchers to understand how health is influenced by family history, life experiences, and social conditions. It also reveals how these factors interact across generations.
Cancer screening and lifestyle factors
Dr. Martin McNamara, CEO of the Sax Institute, stated that cancer questions will be a core part of the first questionnaire. Since 2000, early-onset cancers have increased. These are defined as those diagnosed after adolescence but before age 50.
These include colon, thyroid, and breast cancers. Scientists suspect increased screening, lifestyle changes, and early-life risk exposure are contributors. Urgent research is needed to clarify these factors.
Participants will be asked about health, lifestyle, social circumstances, and background. With consent, this data will be linked to health records, cancer registries, and Medicare. McNamara emphasized the importance of tracking people over time.
„We will have a very clear picture of their lives, what is important to them, their education, employment, and where they live,”he explained. The study will evolve with participants, including questions relevant to their age and emerging health issues.
Funding and research impact
The project is funded by a $4.5 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Recruitment begins in November. Professor Emily Banks, a former scientific director at the Sax Institute, used 45 and Updata to reveal that smoking-related diseases kill 66 Australians daily.
Banks emphasized that large-scale cohort studies are powerful because they provide a window into the population. They help detail lifetime exposures. The 45 and Updata has become a key collaborative resource. It covers about 10% of New South Wales' population in the target age group.
„Some of the biggest advances in health have come from using this type of information,”Banks concluded.