Framingham Heart Study Marks 70th Anniversary

Framingham has arguably contributed more than any other town in the country to the health of all Americans, because of the so-called "Framingham Heart Study," a wide-ranging and ongoing research effort among residents that helped doctors understand the connections that high cholesterol, blood pressure, exercise, diet and smoking have to heart health.

For the past 70 years, researchers have gathered regular details about the health and lifestyles of thousands of people — and are now studying the children and grandchildren of the original participants who were first studied in 1948.

Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, principal investigator and director of the study, joined Morning Edition to talk the study's influence on American health.