Research Introduction

The Tsukuba Happiness Life Study, which aims to track the health of Tsukuba citizens to determine who is more likely to suffer from dementia and need nursing care, and to develop preventive methods, began last year.

Professor Michihiro Okura (Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences) is the research leader, and researchers from Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba and Medical Sciences and private companies will also participate.

Professor Okura said, “We want to extend people’s healthy lifespan by conducting everything from research to the development of products that help improve health. Interdisciplinary research is a specialty of the University of Tsukuba.”

It is part of the Tsukuba Digital Bio International Center Project, which began at the end of 2020 with support from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), with the aim of improving the wellbeing (physical and mental health and happiness) of the people.

The project is a collaboration of industry, government, and academia, led by the University of Tsukuba, and aims to realize three visions by the year 30: (1) a society where preemptive medicine is the key, (2) a society that is resistant to infectious diseases, and (3) a society where people can live healthy lives through “food and medicine.

This is a large-scale project that is expected to cost the government over 3 billion yen by FY29.

Happiness Life Research is one of the five research and development tasks set forth to realize these visions.

From July to August last year, 10,000 randomly selected Tsukuba residents aged 45 to 89 were surveyed by mail regarding their health conditions. 2,281 people responded.

Of these, 1,208 people who were determined to be at high health risk, including those at potential risk for dementia and sleep disorders, were encouraged to participate in a more detailed health checkup (Happiness Life Health Checkup).

As a result, 405 people have participated in the program as of August 2023. The participation fee is free of charge, and the participants will continue to be invited to participate in the annual diagnosis and undergo detailed examinations on items such as lifestyle, cognitive function, and sleep status. If necessary, an exercise program to prevent cognitive function decline will be introduced.