Health across the life course

Question 1

what does epidemiology study

Answer 1

Epidemiology studies the distribution of health and disease in population and the factors determining these distributions

Question 2

what is life course epidemiology

Answer 2

• this is the study of long term biological, behavioural and psychological processes that link adult health and disease risk to physical or social exposures acting during gestation, childhood, adolescence, early adult life or across the generations

Question 3

what are the risk factors for chronic adult disease

Answer 3

• alcohol
• smoking
• obesity
• physical inactivity
• socio-economic status

Question 4

blood pressure and cholesterol levels in adulthood are associated…

Answer 4

Blood pressure and cholesterol levels in adulthood are associated to those during childhood

Question 5

what are overweight children at risk of becoming

Answer 5

Overweight children are at increased risk of becoming overweight adults

Question 6

what is the importance of socio-economic risk

Answer 6

Importance of deprivation in childhood in determining health during the life course

Poverty, illness and poor early growth make individuals more susceptible to adult chronic diseases

Question 7

what is the barker hypothesis

Answer 7

• idea that what happens in utero can have an effect and relationship to the origins of disease in adulthood

Question 8

wha tis the risk of stomach cancer linked to

Answer 8

Risk of stomach cancer is influenced by infection in childhood: H pylori

Question 9

describe

• biological pathways
• predominant social pathway
• socio-biological pathway
• biosocial pathway

Answer 9

biological pathways

• if you have poor growth in utero this can lead to poor lung development which can lead to infant respiratory infections
• this can cause childhood chest illness
• lead to a rapid decline in lung function and adult lung disease

predominant social pathway

• poor child socioeconomic status
• poor childhood educational attainment
• poor adult socioeconomic situation - leads to air pollution, poor adult diet, smoking which leads to a rapid decline in lung function and adult lung disease

socio-biological pathway
- air pollution, passive smoking, poor nutrition and the social pathway above

biosocial pathway
- air pollution, poor adult diet, smoking and the social pathway above leads to rapid decline in lung function/ adult lung disease

Question 10

What is epigenetic

Answer 10

Heritable changes in gene expression not explained by DNA sequence

Question 11

name examples of epigenetic changes

Answer 11

One of the mechanisms is altered DNA methylation

• Increased methylation usually switches gene off
• Decreased methylation increases gene expression