Celebrating 70 Years of the Framingham Heart Study: Solving Mysteries of Heart Disease

When I first started researching my A-Fib back in 1998, I kept coming across research studies that credited its data to the Framingham Heart Study. I had no idea how influential the study has been to expanding our understanding of cardiovascular health.

The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is a long-term, ongoing cardiovascular study of residents of the city of Framingham, MA, now celebrating its 70th year. The study was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and had been intended to last for only 20 years.

The Lifesaving Power of Scientific Research

Much of the now-common knowledge concerning heart disease, such as the effects of diet, exercise, smoking, good and bad cholesterol and high blood pressure is based on this longitudinal study. As well as far-reaching programs in stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Before the FHS, doctors had little sense of prevention.

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said new approaches and therapies have sprung from Framingham’s work. “Framingham is living proof of the lifesaving power of scientific research. It’s no coincidence that deaths from heart disease have declined over the 70 years of this groundbreaking study.” 

The study has huge repositories of data, from cell lines and gene sequences to scanned images of the heart, brain, bone and liver.

“Every part of the body that can be measured, imaged or assessed, we’ve done so over the last 70 years,” said Dr. Vasan S. Ramachandran, principal investigator and director of the study for Boston University. “It’s a remarkable human experiment. It’s with humility I say that. It’s unbelievable, and to be part of it is a gift, a privilege and an honor.”

Framingham: The Study and the Town that Changed the Health of a Generation

Framingham doctors in 1948

The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects (mostly white women and men) from Framingham, (about two-thirds of the town) and now has over 14,000 people from three generations.

Participants, and their children and grandchildren, voluntarily consented to undergo a detailed medical history, physical examination, and medical tests every two years, creating a wealth of data about physical and mental health, especially about cardiovascular disease.

Judie Saltonstall is one of them. She’s a second-generation participant who moved to Arizona 29 years ago and still faithfully logs on to her computer every three months to answer questionnaires and memory quizzes.

The 75-year-old is part of a contingent of FHS participants living all over the country who travel back to Framingham whenever needed for exams and tests. She reels off a list: retina photographs, bone density tests, and MRIs of the brain, heart and abdomen.

“It’s kind of exciting to do,” said Saltonstall, a mother of four and a former teacher. “It’s important for me personally, but also for them to know what’s going on with me and to learn from that, whatever good it does.”

Adding Different Segments (“Cohorts”)

In 1968, despite the recommendation to end the study as scheduled, Congress voted to continue it. Over the decades, the study had been split into different segments, or “cohorts”:

• The Original Cohort (1948)
• Offspring Cohort, the second generation (1971)
• The Omni Cohort asked people of color to volunteer to study race and heritage in heart factors (1994)
• The Generation Three Cohort (2002)
• The Omni Two Cohort, the second generation of Omni Cohort participants (as young as 13 years of age, 2003).

Landmark Study: Inspiring Thousands of Published Studies

Framingham, MA, circa 1948

It’s been 70 years since a small, middle-class community 23 miles west of Boston became the linchpin in helping to solve the mysteries of heart disease.

Framingham data resources are available for researchers to use, and those data continue to spur new scientific discoveries. FHS data has spawned over 3,600 published studies in medical, peer-reviewed journals. (Including many studies about Atrial Fibrillation, heart arrhythmias, and prevention of strokes).

The Framingham Heart Study is a joint project of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and Boston University. Learn more at News on Framingham Heart Study.

As A-Fib patients, we owe a huge debt to the Framingham participants, doctors, scientists and researchers.

VIDEO: Framingham Heart Study: The First 70 Years

Learn about the legacy of the Framingham Heart Study. Includes interviews with participants; current and historical photos and footage. 12:17 min. Go to video.

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