Key result
Fetal undernutrition and impaired fetal growth are linked to increased rates of later coronary heart disease.
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Reveals that fetal undernutrition in late gestation increases coronary heart disease rates in adults, indicating early physiological and metabolic programming.
The fetal origins hypothesis states that fetal undernutrition in middle to late gestation, which leads to disproportionate fetal growth, programmes later coronary heart disease. Animal studies have shown that undernutrition before birth programmes persisting changes in a range of metabolic, physiological, and structural parameters. Studies in humans have shown that men and women whose birth weights were at the lower end of the normal range, who were thin or short at birth, or who were small in relation to placental size have increased rates of coronary heart disease. We are beginning to understand something of the mechanisms underlying these associations. The programming of blood pressure, insulin responses to glucose, cholesterol metabolism, blood coagulation, and hormonal settings are all areas of active research.
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David J. Barker (1993) conducted a review in Coronary heart disease. Fetal undernutrition in middle to late gestation vs. Normal fetal growth and birth weight was evaluated on Coronary heart disease. Fetal undernutrition in middle to late gestation, leading to low birth weight or disproportionate fetal growth, is associated with increased rates of later coronary heart disease.
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