More volunteers are needed to take part in a long term health study of people in Grey Bruce and right across Ontario.
Doctor John McLaughlin is with Cancer Care Ontario.
He tells Bayshore Broadcasting News they eventually want to have 150 thousand people signed up to take part in the study province wide.
Doctor McLaughlin says about two thousand people needed in Grey Bruce.
He says they want people between the ages of 35 and 69 to take part in the study — which is not about looking at already sick patients and trying to treat cancer — but instead it’s about prevention and determining who gets cancer and why.
Doctor McLaughlin says Grey Bruce was chosen because of its representative of both urban and rural living.
He says just because Grey Bruce has one of the highest rates of cardio vascular disease in Ontario won’t impact the results of this study because they are trying to find out why people get sick in the first place.
Doctor McLaughlin says other researchers on the team will be trying to find why heart disease and diabetes occur as well as cancer.
He says people also should not worry about handing over personal medical information to the researcher as they have worked with Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner to make sure this information is completly protected.
Doctor McLaughlin hopes to have all the volunteers then need to take part in the study screened by the spring.
The Owen Sound assessment office is located in the Nortown Plaza, across from the Liquor store.
More information about the study can be found at www.ontariohealthstudy.ca
The other centres are Mississauga, for its cultural and ethnic diversity, and Sudbury, to represent northern Ontario.