Helsinki Heart Study

Helsinki Heart Study (HHS, also known by its Finnish name; Sepelvaltimotaudin ehkäisyprojekti, SEP) was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing whether the cholesterol lowering drug Gemfibrozil could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease among Finnish men. More than 4000 asymptomatic middle-aged men (40 to 55 years of age) with primary dyslipidemia (non-HDL cholesterol > 5.2 mM; 200 mg/dL) participated in the 5-year follow-up trial during the 1981-1990. Half of the participants received 600 mg of gemfibrozil twice daily, whereas the other half received placebo.

DNA samples from over 4000 HHS study participants are now available for research purposes through THL Biobank. Sample data can be linked to information from the Finnish national health registries, such as Care Register for Health Care (HILMO), Cancer Register, Cause-of-Death Register and Drug Imbursement Registers by a separate application process. Adding register data allows researchers to monitor longitudinal health and mortality of the participants over three decades.

Samples and data available in THL Biobank

For all participants of the Helsinki Heart Study DNA samples are available through THL Biobank. For more detailed information, please see the 'THL Biobank Sample availability table'.

Genome-wide SNP data is also available from all the study participants, for more detailed information, please see the 'THL Biobank Omics availability table'.

In addition to the basic background data (e.g. age, sex, height, weight, BMI) more phenotype data will become gradually available.