Review of Rationale, Design, and Initial Findings: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

Abstract

In the late 1990s the non-communicable diseases were becoming increasingly more prevalent and a significant proportion of evidence in this regard had originated from industrialized “Western” countries. This had led to a landscape where most national and local health decisions regarding non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were informed by data generated elsewhere. Iran, as a large country in the Middle East was no exception and was going through significant population growth and urban development at the time. An initiative by the Iranian National Scientific Research Council funded an idea that was aimed at delineating the local epidemiology of NCDs and their risk factors in a manner that was unprecedented. The result was Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS), the first and longest running cohort of its sort in Iran.