The Swedish Twin Registry: a unique resource for clinical, epidemiological and genetic studies

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Abstract
Abstract.  Lichtenstein P, de Faire U, Floderus B, Svartengren M, Svedberg P, Pedersen NL (Karolinska Institutet; Karolinska Hospital; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, National Institute for Working life, Stockholm, Sweden; and University of Southern California, CA, USA) The Swedish Twin Registry: a unique resource for clinical, epidemiological and genetic studies (Review). J Intern Med 2002; 252: 184–205.The Swedish Twin Registry (STR), which today hasdeveloped into a unique resource, was first established in the late 1950s to study the importance of smoking and alcohol consumption on cancer and cardiovascular diseases whilst controlling for genetic propensity to disease. Since that time, the Registry has been expanded and updated on several occasions, and the focus has similarly broadened to most common complex diseases. In the following, we will summarize the content of the database, describe for the first time recent data collection efforts and review some of the principal findings that have come from the Registry.