Key result
Early-life and fetal risk factors drive premature atherosclerosis development, promoting early fatty streak formation.
Why the study?
Atherosclerosis is traditionally considered a disease of older people, but evidence shows it can originate during intrauterine development and childhood.
Highlights the importance of early life exposures, including fetal and childhood stages, in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, emphasizing the need for early risk factor management.
Supports primordial prevention targeting fetal/childhood exposures; leaves open whether interventions improve long-term outcomes.
Atherosclerosis is extremely widespread. Traditionally, it is considered a disease of older people, who most often experience problems with the heart and blood vessels. While much attention from the scientific community has been paid to studying the association between aging and atherosclerosis, as well as its consequences, there is evidence that atherosclerosis occurs at an early age. Atherosclerosis may form both during intrauterine development and in childhood. Nutrition plays an important role in childhood atherosclerosis, along with previous infectious diseases and excess weight of both the child and the mother. In the present review, we examined the development of atherosclerosis and the prerequisites in childhood.
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Poznyak et al. (2024) conducted a review in Atherosclerosis. Childhood and fetal risk factors (e.g., malnutrition, infections, maternal hypercholesterolemia) was evaluated. Childhood and fetal risk factors, including malnutrition and maternal hypercholesterolemia, contribute to the early development of atherosclerosis, with fatty streaks and intimal thickening appearing early in life.
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