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| Toenails can tell researchers whether聽a聽person has been exposed to arsenic.聽 |
It鈥檚 not exactly a trip to the spa, but you will get your toenails trimmed.
Volunteers are being recruited for the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow鈥檚 Health鈥擜tlantic PATH for short鈥攁 research project investigating lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors related to the development of cancer and other diseases in Atlantic Canada.
Researchers are casting the net for thousands of volunteers鈥�12,000 men and women between the ages of 35 and 69 in Nova Scotia alone.
All you need to do is contact Atlantic PATH via its online form (at ), letter, or telephone (494-7284 or 1-877-285-7284) to set up an appointment time for a visit to the Atlantic PATH Assessment Centre, located in the Halifax Shopping Centre Annex on Mumford Road.
After reading about the study in the Chronicle Herald, Halifax resident Leanne Chisholm decided she鈥檇 like to participate.
鈥淚t seems so ambitious and I thought this is something I could help out with,鈥� says Ms. Chisholm, a producer with the documentary film company Arcadia Entertainment. 鈥淚 mean, try and find someone in Atlantic Canada who hasn鈥檛 been touched by cancer, who watched a loved one die or seen them suffer through chemotherapy鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 joyful that they鈥檙e doing a preventative-style study.鈥�
The $7-million study is quite unique because of its size鈥�30,000 volunteers are being recruited in all four Atlantic Provinces鈥攁nd its duration; volunteers will be tracked over 30 years to determine why some people develop cancer and others don鈥檛.
It鈥檚 also a part of a much larger study, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow鈥檚 Health. The $42-million study will follow the health of 300,000 people in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
鈥淭he information obtained through this study will provide an enormous bank of information which researchers will be able to draw upon to help identify the causes of cancer and, in turn, develop better detection, treatment and prevention methods,鈥� says Louise Parker, the principal investigator for Atlantic PATH. 鈥淔uture generations鈥攖he children and grandchildren of our study participants鈥攚ill benefit from this knowledge.鈥�
Although the study is longterm, it only requires one trip to the assessment centre. That visit lasts about an hour and a half to two hours for volunteers to fill out a questionnaire and聽for the researchers to gather biological samples (blood, urine, saliva and the aforementioned toenail trimmings) and take the required measurements to determine such things as height, weight, body fat, bone density and grip strength.
Afterwards, researchers will track the participants鈥� health over the years through medical records including doctor鈥檚 visits, cancer registries, hospital records and other health-related databases.
鈥淚 think the saliva test was the most fun. They need four tablespoons and it takes awhile,鈥� says Ms. Chisholm, a mother of two children, with a laugh.
The toenail clippings, however, seem to be getting the most attention. They can tell scientists whether residents have been exposed to arsenic, a naturally occurring metallic element found in rocks throughout the province that can find its way into drinking water. Exposure to elevated levels of arsenic is known to cause a number of malignancies, chief among them kidney and bladder cancer.
鈥淭he Atlantic provinces have the highest rates of cancer in Canada,鈥� says Dr. Parker, a Dalhousie-IWK epidemiologist and Canadian Cancer Society (Nova Scotia Division) Chair in Population Cancer Research. 鈥淭he PATH project will help us understand why the rates are so high in the region and, more importantly, to develop strategies which deal with those underlying causes and significantly reduce those rates.鈥�