early environmental and biological impacts of lifelong health Flashcards
what challenges can fetus face in utero that might have a lasting impact on its health
fetal infection in utero
maternal nutrition (under or over)
maternal illness
maternal stress
maternal medication
enviromental factors or exposires
programming adult health in early life concluded what
on average adults who had a coronary event had been small at birth and thin at 2 years of age
thereafter put on weight rapidly
the risk of coronary event was more strongly related to the rate of change of childhood bmi rather than to bmi attained at any particular age of childhood
what increases risk of metabolic syndrome
undernutrition in utero or overnutrition as a child increases risk of metabolic syndrome which causes an increase in cardiovascular events
mechanism of DOHaD
Idea of PROGRAMMING in utero
Leads to changes which influence development and physiology
These changes might include predictive adaptive responses (PARs)
PARs are proposed to be developmental adaptations taken to prepare the fetus for its future environment
PARs don’t benefit the fetus immediately, but are taken in anticipation of the environment they will be exposed to.
what does a mismatch between PAR and actual environment cause
may contribute to disease risk later in life
If a fetus acquires PARs in anticipation of a particular post-natal environment, but then encounters a different environment to that predicted, it will be mal-adapted, potentially raising the risk of ill-health in later life.
how do we link DOHaD to biology
Associations between early environmental exposures and:
Cardio-vascular disease
Type 2 diabetes
Lung disease
Cancer risk
Neurological, special sense and intellectual development
Allergic and auto-immune diseases
what are the 3 major mechanisms of challenges that fetus face in utero
Thought to be three major mechanisms:
Hormonal effects (especially glucocorticoid exposure)
Epigenetic modifications
Irreversible developmental changes in organ size/structure
