Proceedings of the Nutrition Society

Table of Contents - 2002 - Volume 61, Issue 04  

Cambridge Journals Online - CUP Full-Text Page

Meeting Report

Coronary heart disease: a disorder of growth

S. M. Robinsona1 and D. J. P. Barkera1 c1



a1 MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK

Article author query

Robinson SM [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]
Barker DJ [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]

Abstract

The search for the causes of CHD has been guided by a `destructive' model, which proposes that influences acting in adult life, such as smoking, obesity or high saturated fat intakes, lead to an acceleration of age-related destructive processes, including a rise in blood pressure and the formation of atheroma. One explanation for the failure of the model to account for, or indeed to prevent rising epidemics of CHD, is that individuals are heterogeneous in their responses to such influences. This heterogeneity in response is linked to different paths of early growth. The recent discovery that individuals who develop CHD grew differently from other individuals during fetal life and in childhood has led to a new `developmental' model for the disease. Reduced fetal growth followed by poor growth in infancy leads to an increased risk of development of CHD, and its associated conditions, stroke, hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance. These effects are compounded by accelerated weight gain, which may represent 'compensatory growth' in childhood.

Key Words: CHD; Fetal programming; Fetal growth; Childhood growth

Correspondence:

c1 *Corresponding author: Professor D. J. P. Barker, fax +44 2380 704021, email djpb@mrc.soton.ac.uk