May 12, 2023
Since the Raine Study showed in the 1980s that ultrasound was safe for unborn babies, the technology has been used around the world.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Following the people of Western Australia from the womb for more than 30 years, one of the world’s longest-running public health studies has entered its 10th anniversary with clinical advances.
Known as the Raine Study, it is based in Perth and has been collecting data from thousands of people for 33 years, investigating a wide range of health issues from fertility, nutrition, and growth studies.
The Rain Study began in 1989, when 2900 pregnant women volunteered to participate in a study looking at the effects of ultrasound during pregnancy. That early research revealed to the world that ultrasound has no health problems for newborns – a revelation that, of course, has helped millions.
Surprisingly, in 30-plus years, the Raine Study has continued to document the health of the participants and their children, following two generations.
Now, Raine’s Study is set to be the first in the world.
From last month until the end of 2025, the ongoing part of the Rain Study called The Generations Follow-up will exceed 18 records.Th time, and examine the health of the generations participating in the Study.
The study has also announced that it is adding an unprecedented third generation to its research, thanks to recent funding from the Channel 7 Telethon Trust.
Charlotte Diaz grew up in Raine’s Study, and the genealogy of her family is involved.
Family matters
“I’m what they call Gen2,” Charlotte explained to Australian Geographic. “My mother, who?
Gen1, is what made me participate in this research.
Then my grandfather… [and] It is called Gen0.
Charlotte has a two-year-old daughter who is now also enrolled in the study. “We are very happy to see [her] they are participating as Gen3,” he said.
Raine’s students gain rare knowledge in the health of their families, as well as advanced knowledge in every health field.
But, for Charlotte, the benefits are many. “As a student, a [Raine research] The team always makes you feel special. They make you feel like you are part of the family.”
Decades of data
The sense of community and family that Raine’s participants feel may be why this Study has the highest rate of any similar research.
“They are like my children,” said Alex D’Vauz, Senior Data Manager for the Raine Study. “I’ve seen them grow from the age of 14 to the age of 33.”
For more than thirty years, 71 percent of all participants have remained with the study. This allows its researchers to gather more information.
“Over the past 33 years, we have collected more than 30,000 pieces of phenotypic data and 30 million pieces of genetic data from participants, and we have more than 170,000 samples,” said the Raine Study’s Scientific Manager, Blagica Penova-Veselinovic. .
All of that is carefully stored and maintained by Alex and his team. “It’s a high-level baseline, which researchers find,” he said. “They can apply this to their projects and publish their findings which are new and more advanced.”
The power to change
The Raine Study data is a powerful tool and, to date, has been used in more than 600 peer-reviewed research papers that contribute to scientific discoveries and public health policy.
To obtain the data, students must clearly demonstrate what they hope to achieve using the Raine Study data. “They have to put it in perspective, how it can make someone’s life better, or how [their] Can research affect policy? Blagica explained.
In 2021 and 2022, six studies, led by Professor Roger Hart from the University of WA, looked at the long-term health outcomes of children born using Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) such as IVF, comparing them to peers of the same age. Raine’s lesson.
Using data from the Raine Study, the research team was able to show that the long-term health effects should not be different from the general population, providing worldwide comfort to people born with IVF, their families and couples who are considering or doing IVF.
“Raine’s lecture was effective and important in sending an encouraging message,” Blagica said.
The list of public health findings emerging from the Raine Study is staggering. It comes from the association of smoking during pregnancy and the disruption of developmental studies in childhood, showing that breastfeeding reduces the risk of middle ear infections in young children.
Data from the Raine Study have also helped to show a link between asthma, allergies and the immune system.
It has also been shown that children who grow up without local alcohol outlets drink less than adults.
Looking at possible future impacts, Raine’s research can provide more information about the long-term effects of human health issues such as COVID and climate change.
This year, the Raine Study researchers want to link the data to commonwealth and state databases. Such associations can provide new information, where the balance between public health and well-being can be approached.
“We all talk about justice, but not much is being used. If we have supporting information, it will be easier for politicians to hear what they are saying and say that this is based on facts,” said Blagica.
Although it makes a significant contribution to public health, the Raine Study does not receive government funding to support its day-to-day costs.
“My wish for the Raine Study as a participant and especially as a mother of future participants is that [will be rectified]”,” said Charlotte Diaz, adding that she hoped that Raine’s Study would be recognized “as one of the real researches”.
