LOOKING AFTER HEALTH DURING PREGNANCY: FOETAL PROGRAMMING
Scientists used to think that adult illnesses (like heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes and obesity) were either the direct result of what we have inherited through our genes or were due to unhealthy living patterns. Current research, however, suggests instead that we are programmed to be susceptible to these illnesses depending on what we were exposed to in the womb. This concept – that the diseases of adult life could be connected to conditions in the womb – is called foetal programming.
The research by Professor David Barker mentioned earlier (which showed the link between our birth weight and the possibility of heart problems) is just one aspect of this programming. It seems that whatever conditions in the womb stunt the baby’s growth also increases their risk of cardiovascular disease. Scientists are now taking this research further by looking at other traits which may be influenced in the womb, such as high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, breast cancer, mental illness and intelligence.
This new science of foetal programming is even causing a rethink of genetic influences. For instance, it has always been thought that identical twins are more likely to share a similar characteristic because this characteristic was controlled by their genes. But identical twins also share the same conditions in the womb so could other factors be at work?
Recent research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, monitored the daughters born to those women who were pregnant during the Dutch famine of 1944 – 45.They found that those women whose mothers were malnourished during the early stages of pregnancy because of the famine had a significantly greater chance of being obese at the age of 50. If the mothers had been starved after the first four months of their pregnancy there was no difference in the Body Mass Index for these daughters, compared with an average cross-section of similar age. The researchers concluded that the obesity developed as a result of permanent changes ‘fixed’ in the womb, rather than as the result of the usual lifestyle factors.
Further findings from this research also suggest that the children of the women who were pregnant during the famine have a greater risk of developing late-onset diabetes.
Professor Barker is suggesting that, because different issues in the foetus have different critical periods of development, the timing of an effect on a woman is crucial. The converse is also true. If we nourish the baby in the womb as healthily as possible we can lessen the risk of the child developing future illnesses.
This does not mean that we have no control over our health as adults. But it may put us more at risk of developing a certain problem like heart disease later on in life, requiring us to be more careful about our diet, exercise etc. But, more importantly, this research shows that certain adult illnesses could be prevented if we concentrated on making the environment in the womb as healthy as possible.
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