Health atlas allows online search of risk by area

A new online map of England and Wales allows people to enter their postcode and find their community’s risk of developing 14 conditions, such as heart disease and lung cancer.

The map presents population-wide health information for England and Wales. The researchers at Imperial College London pointed out that it could not be used to see an individual’s risk. It indicated an area’s health risk, relative to the average for England and Wales, they stressed.

Twenty-five year study.  Researchers at Imperial looked at 8,800 wards in England and Wales, each with a population of 6,000 people.  They collected data from the Office for National Statistics and from cancer registries for 1985 to 2009.   Data was then mapped alongside region-by-region variations in environmental factors such as air pollution, sunshine and pesticides.    The data was also adjusted for age, deprivation and to take into account small numbers. Researchers said this was the first tool of its kind showing this level of detail.

Read the full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27141760