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Studying the Elusive Environment in Large Scale

Studying the Elusive Environment in Large Scale Opinion VIEWPOINT It is possible thatmorethan50%ofcomplexdiseaserisk the EWAS vantage point, intervening on β-carotene Chirag J. Patel, PhD isattributedtodifferencesinanindividual’senvironment. (Figure, D) seems a futile exercise given its complex rela- Center for Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Airpollution,smoking,anddietaredocumentedenviron- tionship with other nutrients and pollutants. Medical School, mental factors affecting health, yet these factors are but Giventhiscomplexity,howcanstudiesofenvironmen- Boston, Massachusetts. a fraction of the “exposome,” the totality of the exposure talriskmoveforward?First,EWASanalysesshouldbeap- loadoccurringthroughoutaperson’slifetime. Investigat- pliedtomultipledatasets,andconsistencycanbeformally John P. A. Ioannidis, MD, DSc ing one or a handful of exposures at a time has led to a examinedforallassessedcorrelations.Second,thetempo- Stanford Prevention highly fragmented literature of epidemiologic associa- ral relationship between exposure and changes in health Research Center, tions. Much of that literature is not reproducible, and se- parametersmayofferhelpfulhintsaboutwhichofthesig- Department of Health lective reporting may be a major reason for the lack of re- nalsaremorethansimplecorrelations.Third,standardized Research and Policy, Department of producibility. A new model is required to discover adjustedanalyses,inwhichadjustmentsareperformedsys- Medicine, Stanford environmental exposures associated with disease while tematicallyandinthesamewayacrossmultipledatasets, University School of mitigating possibilities of selective reporting. may also help. This is in stark contrast with the current Medicine, Stanford, Toremedythelackofreproducibilityandconcernsof model,wherebymostepidemiologicstudiesusesingledata California, Department of Statistics, Stanford validity, multiple personal exposures can be assessed si- setswithoutreplicationaswellasnon–time-dependentas- University School of multaneously in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

Studying the Elusive Environment in Large Scale

Patel, Chirag J.; Ioannidis, John P. A.
JAMA , Volume 311 (21) – Jun 4, 2014
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References (9)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.2014.4129
pmid
24893084
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Opinion VIEWPOINT It is possible thatmorethan50%ofcomplexdiseaserisk the EWAS vantage point, intervening on β-carotene Chirag J. Patel, PhD isattributedtodifferencesinanindividual’senvironment. (Figure, D) seems a futile exercise given its complex rela- Center for Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Airpollution,smoking,anddietaredocumentedenviron- tionship with other nutrients and pollutants. Medical School, mental factors affecting health, yet these factors are but Giventhiscomplexity,howcanstudiesofenvironmen- Boston, Massachusetts. a fraction of the “exposome,” the totality of the exposure talriskmoveforward?First,EWASanalysesshouldbeap- loadoccurringthroughoutaperson’slifetime. Investigat- pliedtomultipledatasets,andconsistencycanbeformally John P. A. Ioannidis, MD, DSc ing one or a handful of exposures at a time has led to a examinedforallassessedcorrelations.Second,thetempo- Stanford Prevention highly fragmented literature of epidemiologic associa- ral relationship between exposure and changes in health Research Center, tions. Much of that literature is not reproducible, and se- parametersmayofferhelpfulhintsaboutwhichofthesig- Department of Health lective reporting may be a major reason for the lack of re- nalsaremorethansimplecorrelations.Third,standardized Research and Policy, Department of producibility. A new model is required to discover adjustedanalyses,inwhichadjustmentsareperformedsys- Medicine, Stanford environmental exposures associated with disease while tematicallyandinthesamewayacrossmultipledatasets, University School of mitigating possibilities of selective reporting. may also help. This is in stark contrast with the current Medicine, Stanford, Toremedythelackofreproducibilityandconcernsof model,wherebymostepidemiologicstudiesusesingledata California, Department of Statistics, Stanford validity, multiple personal exposures can be assessed si- setswithoutreplicationaswellasnon–time-dependentas- University School of multaneously in

Journal

JAMA – American Medical Association

Published: Jun 4, 2014

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