The scientific goal of the study is to establish the relationship between a variety of factors (lifetime environmental exposures, fitness and physical activity, biomarkers, nasal respiratory epithelial transcriptome) and ideal versus impaired peak lung health (reserve and markers of susceptibility in investigators' model) in young adulthood. In addition to the initial baseline assessment, remote contacts (e.g., via text message, email, mail, or phone) at regular intervals will allow for both the retention of the participants as well as the collection of additional short-term follow-up information, i.e., within 4.5 years of enrollment. If additional funding becomes available, investigators will extend the study for an additional period of time to study factors related to long-term changes in lung health over time, i.e., at 5 years and beyond. Recruitment of participants will be conducted by the participating study sites along with national and regional efforts from the American Lung Association. Recruitment efforts will be supported by the study web site www.lung.org/lung-study
The ALA-LHC is a longitudinal, multi-center cohort study that will enroll approximately 4,000 young adults between the ages of 25-35 who do not have severe lung disease. The overarching objective of the ALA-LHC is to establish a national cohort of young adults for the purpose of defining lung health and developing targets to intercept chronic lung disease at its earliest stages.