#HeartLung #Foundation #distributes #million #research #projects #Umeå
SEK 22.5 million is awarded to 16 research projects in Umeå in heart, vascular and lung diseases from the Heart-Lung Foundation. Never before has the fund distributed so much money to research in Umeå. The money can be distributed thanks to the last year’s successful fundraising work and the fund is also carrying out a new investment in the world-unique research study SCAPIS.
– Despite a dark year for the economy, our donors show how important it is that research can continue to save lives and give people more healthy years of life. I want to thank all the donors in Umeå who continue to contribute to life-changing breakthroughs, says Kristina Sparreljung, secretary general of the Heart-Lung Foundation.
The Heart-Lung Foundation is carrying out a new investment in the world-unique research study SCAPIS. Half of the participants will be re-examined at six university locations in Sweden, of which Umeå is one of them. The goal of SCAPIS is to be able to predict who is at risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, for example, and to treat them before illness occurs.
In Sweden, over two million people live with cardiovascular disease. Despite successful research that contributed to fewer people dying from cardiovascular disease today, it is still Sweden’s most common cause of death. About 1.3 million people in Sweden live with some form of lung disease.
One of the researchers receiving money is Linnea Hedman, associate professor at Umeå University who will follow up the child cohorts in the so-called OLIN studies. The project has a particular focus on quality of life and the importance of tobacco smoking and the use of electronic cigarettes.
Knowledge about different types of asthma is limited in relation to other allergic diseases and the importance of exposure to tobacco and nicotine products.
The OLIN studies are some of the very few population studies that followed people from childhood to adulthood, which also included repeated clinical examinations with a focus on asthma and allergy. Thus, knowledge of the course of different types of asthma is limited in terms of connections with other allergic diseases and the importance of exposure to personal use of tobacco and nicotine products.
– This research is possible thanks to gifts from the Swedish people to the Heart-Lung Foundation, says Linnea Hedman.
Another researcher who receives money is Caroline Stridsman, associate professor at Umeå University and nurse at Sunderby Hospital, who will study which factors affect a worse mood and how to individually adapt treatments that improve the quality of life of patients with asthma.
Asthma is one of our biggest public diseases and many people today do not manage to get good control of their symptoms.
– Our research will be able to contribute to more people with asthma receiving person-centred investigation and treatment interventions that can lead to improved asthma control and quality of life. This research is possible thanks to gifts from the Swedish people to the Heart-Lung Foundation, says Caroline Stridsman.
For more information, please contact:
Daniel Edelsvärd-Wallerman, press contact at the Heart-Lung Foundation, telephone 0708-544 235, [email protected]
Pictures:
Kristina Sparreljung, general secretary of the Heart-Lung Foundation
About the Heart-Lung Foundation’s grants
Every year, the Heart-Lung Foundation receives applications for research grants worth around two billion kroner, and this year 594 million kroner is awarded for research into heart and lung disease.
As the largest independent financier of heart and lung research, the Heart-Lung Foundation continuously supports several hundred scientifically selected research projects at Sweden’s universities and university hospitals.
The Heart-Lung Foundation’s research council, which assesses and selects research applications, consists of 24 experts from Sweden’s universities and university hospitals.
Facts about cardiovascular disease (Source: Heart-Lung Foundation)
In Sweden, over 2 million people live with cardiovascular disease. Around 30,000 Swedes die of cardiovascular disease every year, the leading cause of death in Sweden. Cardiovascular disease causes approximately one third of all deaths.
About a quarter of all people who have a stroke today are between 20 and 69 years old, that is, roughly working age. One in three who have a heart attack is aged 20 to 69, the same figure applies to those who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest.
Examples of research successes include the measurement of risk markers in the blood that allow small heart attacks to be found before they become life-threatening, advanced imaging technology for diagnosing strokes, clot-dissolving treatments and implantable defibrillators that return the heart to a regular rhythm (ICD), among many other milestones.
Research challenges today include being able to predict cardiovascular disease and developing more individually tailored treatment methods.
Facts about lung disease (Source: Heart-Lung Foundation)
About 1.3 million people in Sweden live with some form of lung disease, for example asthma or COPD.
An estimated 600,000 people in Sweden live with sleep apnea, which mainly affects the airways.
Diseases in the respiratory organs cause approximately 7 percent of all deaths in Sweden.
The dark numbers are large and thousands of people die every year from some lung disease. Many who live with an undiagnosed lung disease have, over time, both a reduced quality of life and poorer opportunities for successful treatment.
Important successes in research are the development of respiratory technology, the development of spirometry to measure lung function and the discovery of anti-inflammatory substances in asthma and COPD.
Early detection, better treatments and more knowledge about heredity and co-morbidity are some of the great challenges of research. More resources are needed.
The Heart-Lung Fund collects money for selected heart-lung research and works for increased knowledge about the importance of research, to give more people a longer and healthier life. The Heart-Lung Foundation was established in 1904 in the fight against tuberculosis (tb) and today our vision is a world free from heart-lung disease. The business is completely dependent on gifts from private individuals and companies. Support the research on pg 90 91 92-7 or Swisha any gift to 90 91 927. www.hjart-lungfonden.se
