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The Framingham Heart Study — 67 years of discovery in metabolic disease

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 12, pages 177–183 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Framingham Heart Study (FHS), initiated in 1948, is the longest running prospective cohort study in the USA. Through >65 years of discovery, the FHS has contributed to our understanding of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and prediabetes mellitus, the metabolic syndrome and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and to how these conditions relate to our overall and cardiovascular-related mortality. This Timeline gives an overview of the substantial role the FHS has played in advancing the understanding of obesity, diabetes mellitus and NAFLD, and considers the direction the FHS will take in the years to come.

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Figure 1: Cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study.
Figure 2: Selected milestones from the first 67 years of the FHS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding by the Boston University School of Medicine and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study (contract HHSN268201500001I) and the Division of Intramural Research of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 7th Floor, 85 East Concord Street, Boston, 02118, Massachusetts, USA

    Michelle T. Long

  2. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, 01702–5827, Massachusetts, USA

    Caroline S. Fox

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  1. Michelle T. Long
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Both authors researched data for the article, contributed substantially to discussion of the content and to writing the article, and to reviewing and editing the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Michelle T. Long.

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Long, M., Fox, C. The Framingham Heart Study — 67 years of discovery in metabolic disease. Nat Rev Endocrinol 12, 177–183 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.226

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