Näringsepidemiologi: Kost, dricksvatten, föroreningar och hälsa – Agneta Åkesson forskargrupp

Forskargruppen bedriver epidemiologisk forskning med syfte att öka kunskapen om sjukdomsetiologi och prevention inom ett brett spektrum av folkhälsorelaterade utfall. Stort fokus ligger på kopplingen mellan kost, livsstil och hälsa, inklusive aspekter av hållbarhet och konsekvenser av miljögiftsexponering i mat och dricksvatten. Vi använder omfattande kohort-, biomarkör-, omics- och hälsoregisterdata och utför mendelska randomiseringsstudier.

En del av:
Rotfrukter

Vi bedriver epidemiologisk forskning för att öka förståelsen för hur kost och levnadsvanor bidrar till att förebygga och påverka utvecklingen av våra stora folksjukdomar, däribland hjärt-kärlsjukdom, cancer och metabola sjukdomar.

Nutritionsepidemiologi utgör kärnan i vår forskning. Vi studerar hur kostens kvalitet, kostmönster, olika kostkomponenter samt föroreningar i livsmedel påverkar hälsa och risk för sjukdom. Vi undersöker även hållbarhetsaspekter av kosten och bedriver epidemiologisk forskning om dricksvatten med särskilt fokus på föroreningar.

Vår forskning bygger främst på stora populationsbaserade longitudinella kohorter med omfattande biomarkör- och omikdata som kopplas till nationella och regionala hälsoregister. Vi bedriver även registerbaserade epidemiologiska studier.

För att förbättra exponeringsbedömningen och stärka möjligheterna att dra slutsatser om orsakssamband använder vi avancerade statistiska metoder, bland annat förfinad modellering av långsiktig exponering för kost och dricksvatten samt metoder för mendelsk randomisering.

Publikationer

Utvalda publikationer

Finansiering

Forskningsbidrag

  • Swedish Research Council for Environment Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027
    Access to safe drinking water is a necessity for health and a human right. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) is a group of persistent environmental chemical contaminants that are widespread in the environment, including drinking water and sometimes at alarmingly high concentrations. PFAS exposure has been linked to a multitude of adverse outcomes, including immunotoxic effects such as decreased antibody response following vaccination. Data on infections, which are the clinically relevant endpoints of a decreased antibody response, are however scarce. Because most people in Sweden consume drinking water daily, and that the knowledge on drinking water production and distribution is high, Sweden is ideal for assessing drinking water-related health effects. The overall aim of this research proposal is to generate new knowledge on immune related health effects of PFAS in drinking water in women and children. The project comprises: i) a large scale register-based study assessing the association of PFAS in drinking water and the risk of infectious disease among pregnant women in Sweden, ii) a survey on children age 18 months and 4 years, evaluating the association of PFAS in food and drinking water as well as in biological specimens with risk of infections, and iii) a large register-based cohort of children (0-5 years, 2012-2022), assessing the association of toxico-kinetically modeled prenatal PFAS exposure and risk of subsequent infectious disease.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
  • Swedish Research Council for Environment Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2025
  • Prolonged exposure to drinking water purification by-products and risk of bladder and bowel cancer
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2018
    Drinking water is one of our most important and most consumed foods. Drinking water can, however, be a source of substances that can have negative health effects. Studies have indicated a link between drinking water chlorination by-products and the risk of colorectal and bladder cancer, but with conflicting results. Chlorination is a cost-effective way to reduce pathogens, but today there are more cost-effective methods that do not add harmful substances. Increasing knowledge about possible health effects from chlorination would therefore contribute to change in the drinking water preparation and thus reduce the drinking water's contribution to ill health. The aim of the project is to study the connection between by-products from the drinking water chlorination and the risk of cancer in the adult population in Sweden. This will be done through a large-scale population-based study, in which cohort data from over 50,000 Swedish men and women will be linked to administrative registers and databases with drinking water analyzes. In the study, we have the opportunity to consider relevant risk factors at the individual level, and to map historical exposure by linking the individuals' migration patterns, drinking water analyzes and information on changes in the drinking water preparation. Previous studies in the field have shown contradictory results and the studies have also shown deficiencies, primarily with regard to the classification of exposure and that relevant risk factors for cancer have not been taken into account. With the proposed study, we therefore hope to be able to increase the knowledge of the connection between by-products from the drinking water chlorination and the risk of cancer. The possibility of connecting individual data via Swedish personal identification numbers means that we have a unique chance to consider relevant risk factors and historical exposure in a way that has not previously been possible. The study will be the largest of its kind.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Research Council for Environment Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2018

Medarbetare och kontakt

Gruppledare

Alla medarbetare i gruppen

Andra personer med koppling till gruppen

  • Ibsen, Daniel
  • Nannsen, Anne
  • Wolk, Alicja
  • Yuan, Shuai

Besöksadress

Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nobels väg 13, Stockholm, Sweden

Postadress

Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Box 210, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden