BMJ 2001;322:375-376 ( 17 February )

Editorials

The fetal origins of adult disease

No longer just a hypothesis and may be critically important in south Asia

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

David Barker pioneered the idea that the 20th century epidemic of coronary heart disease in Western countries might have originated in fetal life.¹ Paradoxically, the epidemic coincided with improved standards of living and nutrition, yet in Britain its greatest impact was in the most deprived areas. Barker observed that early in the 20th century these areas had the highest rates of neonatal mortality and by inference the highest rates of low birth weight. He postulated that impaired fetal growth might have predisposed the survivors to heart disease in later life. The first world congress on the fetal origins of adult disease in Mumbai earlier this month provided an opportunity to assess the state of the hypothesis and consider its implications for future research and policy.

Barker's group originally examined cardiovascular mortality in men born in Hertfordshire, England, in the early decades of the century, on whom good records had been . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Fetal growth markers may show nutritionally mediated effect

Simon Langley-Evans
BMJ 2001 323: 52. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Stillerman, K. P., Mattison, D. R., Giudice, L. C., Woodruff, T. J. (2008). Environmental Exposures and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Review of the Science. Reproductive Sciences 15: 631-650 [Abstract]  
• Honour, J. W., Jones, R., Leary, S., Golding, J., Ong, K. K., Dunger, D. B. (2007). Relationships of Urinary Adrenal Steroids at Age 8 Years with Birth Weight, Postnatal Growth, Blood Pressure, and Glucose Metabolism. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 92: 4340-4345 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Saenger, P., Czernichow, P., Hughes, I., Reiter, E. O. (2007). Small for Gestational Age: Short Stature and Beyond. Endocr. Rev. 28: 219-251 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Parke, A (2006). Drug exposure, pregnancy outcome and fetal and childhood development occurring in the offspring of mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus and other chronic autoimmune diseases. Lupus 15: 808-813 [Abstract]  
• McMullen, S., Langley-Evans, S. C., Johnson, R. J., Rodriguez-Iturbe, B., Nakagawa, T., Kang, D.-H., Feig, D. I., Herrera-Acosta, J. (2005). Essential Hypertension: Defending the Contribution of a Congenital Nephron Deficit. Hypertension 46: e4-e5 [Full text]  
• Huxley, R., Owen, C. G., Whincup, P. H., Cook, D. G., Colman, S., Collins, R. (2004). Birth Weight and Subsequent Cholesterol Levels: Exploration of the "Fetal Origins" Hypothesis. JAMA 292: 2755-2764 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Kelleher, C. C., Lynch, J., Harper, S., Tay, J. B., Nolan, G. (2004). Hurling Alone? How Social Capital Failed to Save the Irish From Cardiovascular Disease in the United States. AJPH 94: 2162-2169 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Lof, M., Forsum, E. (2004). Evaluation of bioimpedance spectroscopy for measurements of body water distribution in healthy women before, during, and after pregnancy. J. Appl. Physiol. 96: 967-973 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Langley-Evans, A J, Langley-Evans, S C (2003). Relationship between maternal nutrient intakes in early and late pregnancy and infants weight and proportions at birth: prospective cohort study. The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health 123: 210-216 [Abstract]  
• Yliharsila, H., Eriksson, J. G., Forsen, T., Kajantie, E., Osmond, C., Barker, D. J.P. (2003). Self-Perpetuating Effects of Birth Size on Blood Pressure Levels in Elderly People. Hypertension 41: 446-450 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Barker, D., Eriksson, J., Forsen, T, Osmond, C (2002). Fetal origins of adult disease: strength of effects and biological basis. Int J Epidemiol 31: 1235-1239 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Huxley, R. (2002). Commentary: Modifying body weight not birthweight is the key to lowering blood pressure. Int J Epidemiol 31: 1051-1053 [Full text]  
• Law, C. (2001). Adult obesity and growth in childhood. BMJ 323: 1320-1321 [Full text]  
• Langley-Evans, S. (2001). Fetal growth markers may show nutritionally mediated effect. BMJ 323: 52-52 [Full text]  
• Binns, C. W., Lee, M., Scott, J. A. (2001). The Fetal Origins of Disease Hypothesis: Public Health Implications for the Asia-Pacific Region. Asia Pac J Public Health 13: 68-73 [Abstract]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Making a case for nutrition

Simon Langley-Evans
bmj.com, 16 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Omissions in Fetal origins of adult disease.

Mario Lopez-Llera
bmj.com, 20 Feb 2001 [Full text]

chronic infection also plays a part.

Pranranjan Prasad
bmj.com, 20 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Interventions To Be Done

Somashekhar Nimbalkar
bmj.com, 20 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Re: Omissions in Fetal origins of adult disease.

Simon Langley-Evans
bmj.com, 21 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Re: Re: Omissions in Fetal origins of adult disease.

Mario Lopez-Llera
bmj.com, 24 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Maternal smoking and Fetal Origins

Susan Sayers, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Feb 2001 [Full text]

Have the confounding effects of class been completely eliminated?

David Legge
bmj.com, 3 Mar 2001 [Full text]

too early to accept Barkers hypothesis

Pranranjan Prasad, et al.
bmj.com, 3 Mar 2001 [Full text]

Can breast feeding prevent fetal origins of adult diseases?

Undurti N Das
bmj.com, 13 Mar 2001 [Full text]

Geographical factors must be considered in applying Barker's theory

Zhikun Zhang
bmj.com, 22 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>