Intro to Development and Ageing Flashcards
How is the population demographic changing?
Lower total fertility rate (no. of live births)
Women are having fewer children - fall from 4.5 to 2.5
Population is living longer, greater proportion of elderly
When was the baby boom?
1960s
What is predicted population change for the next 50 years?
Global population will start to decline
Global fertility rate is falling
Fewer live births
How does an ageing population affect healthcare?
Burden of disease increases
YLDs (years lost to disease) increase
What could provide explanation for why birth defects are increasing?
Age at which families are being started is increasing
This is at odds with increased subfertility/birth defects
What causes trisomy?
Cohesin proteins that bind pairs of chromosomes together are not replaced and weaken over time
What are the normal processes of developmental biology?
Proliferation
Apoptosis
Migration
Responsiveness to local signals and neighbouring cells
What is the brenner hypothesis (1988)?
Could variations/disruptions in development underpin common/chronic diseases?
e.g. Could nephron number determine risk of hypertension in later life?
What is the barker hypothesis?
Impact of the uterine environment ‘programmes’ the fetus for postnatal life
Low birth weight or premature birth associated with risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Evidence for link to hypertension, T2DM and others
What are potential stressors of foetuses?
Endocrine (cortisol) Nutritional Extrinsic toxicants (e.g. smoking)
What are epigenetic modifications?
Heritable changes to the DNA which do not alter the sequence of bases
we think it is these changes that impact health outcomes in later life
How can child development be monitored?
Charting child development (0-5 years):
Gross motor control Fine motor control Cognitive development Language development Social and emotional development
