Clinical research is important for continuously improving the treatment and prevention of diseases. It may only be conducted in compliance with national and international laws and guidelines. The study documents presented here have been reviewed by the responsible Ethics Committee in accordance with Section 15(1) BOÄ BW with regard to professional regulations and, prior to the start of the study, were reviewed and approved by the responsible local data protection officers.

Please note: Your participation in this study is voluntary. This means that you will only participate in the study if you provide your written consent. If you decide not to participate in the study or choose to withdraw at a later stage, you will not experience any disadvantages. You may withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason.

Collaboration and networking with academic or industry partners, as well as the use of state-of-the-art analytical methods, are now well established and can be valuable for addressing specific scientific questions. In addition to consenting to participate in the study, you will therefore be asked to provide separate consent for the following aspects of the study:

• Sharing or joint use of biomaterials (blood, urine and stool samples) or medical data with academic or industry partners for research projects
• Conducting genetic or epigenetic analyses