Heart disease risk begins in the womb

Heart disease is the greatest killer in the world today, and it is widely accepted that our genes interact with traditional lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, obesity and/or a sedentary life to promote an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, a new study in sheep, finds that offspring whose mothers had a complicated pregnancy may be at greater risk of heart disease in later life, suggesting that our cards may be marked even before we are born. 

In addition to the effects of adult lifestyle, there is already evidence that the gene-environment interaction before birth may be just as, if not more, important in "programming" future heart health and heart disease. For instance, human studies in siblings show that children born to a mother who was obese during pregnancy are at greater risk of heart disease than siblings born to the same mother after bariatric surgery to reduce maternal obesity. Such studies have provided strong evidence in humans that the environment experienced during critical periods of development can directly influence long-term cardiovascular health and heart disease risk.

The new research shows that adult offspring from pregnancies complicated by chronic hypoxia have increased indicators of cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure and stiffer blood vessels. Chronic hypoxia or lower-than-normal oxygen levels in the developing baby within the womb is one of the most common outcomes of complicated pregnancy in humans. It occurs as a result of problems within the placenta, as can occur in preeclampsia, gestational diabetes or maternal smoking.

The study, used pregnant sheep to show that maternal treatment with the antioxidant vitamin C during a complicated pregnancy could protect the adult offspring from developing hypertension and heart disease. The work therefore not only provides evidence that a prenatal influence on later heart disease in the offspring is indeed possible, but also shows the potential to protect against it by "bringing preventative medicine back into the womb," as the first author of the study, puts it.

It turns out that vitamin C is a comparatively weak antioxidant, and while the Cambridge study provides a proof-of-principle, future work will focus on identifying alternative antioxidant therapies that could prove more effective in human clinical practice.

"Our discoveries emphasise that when considering strategies to reduce the overall burden of heart disease, much greater attention to prevention rather than treatment is required. Treatment should start as early as possible during the developmental trajectory, rather than waiting until adulthood when the disease process has become irreversible," the Prof. added. The work draws attention to a new way of thinking about heart disease with a much longer-term perspective, focusing on prevention rather than treatment. 

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Children exposed to passive smoking may be at risk of lifelong cardiovascular consequences

Children exposed to passive smoking may be at risk of lifelong cardiovascular consequences in addition to respiratory and other health issues, warns a researcher.

The high level of toxicity in the smoke that comes from the end of a burning cigarette -- side stream smoke -- is a major component in passive smoking that damages the children's blood vessels, the study said.

"Children exposed to cigarette smoke may develop early heart disease as adults due to poorly functioning and stiffer blood vessels," said paediatric cardiologist Geetha Raghuveer, from Children's Mercy Hospital in Missouri, US.

"Some babies who were exposed to cigarette smoke while in the womb might die suddenly during infancy," Raghuveer said in a statement from the American Heart Association.

Compared to adults, children are more vulnerable to passive smoking exposure because they cannot control tobacco use in their surroundings, and are particularly susceptible physically to the smoke's effects.

Cigarette smoke contains a host of chemicals that can impact health by causing changes in blood flow, blood vessels, blood pressure and heart rhythm.

Besides damaging heart and arteries, passive smoking has also been associated with other cardiovascular risk factors -- obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance -- that are linked to diabetes.

Moreover, there are significant chances of children becoming  smokers themselves if their parent's smoke.

Blood tests in a 2011-12 national study, detected a nicotine metabolite called cotinine, in nearly 41 per cent of children aged between three and 11 years, and 34 per cent among kids aged between 12 to 19.

This result was despite declines in recent decades among both adult smokers and the proportion of young children and adolescents living with smokers.

There is also a clear disparity in exposure among poor families compared with their peers, the researchers said.

"Parents should consider making their children's environment smoke-free as cigarette smoke exposure is harmful for children's long-term heart health and could even shorten life expectancy," Raghuveer said.

"Encouraging adults to quit smoking is a cost-effective and health-enhancing strategy that could benefit both," Raghuveer noted, adding "raising cigarette taxes to discourage smoking could also work."

The statement is published in the journal Circulation.

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Children exposed to passive smoking may be at risk of lifelong cardiovascular consequences in addition to respiratory and other health issues, warns an Indian origin researcher.

The high level of toxicity in the smoke that comes from the end of a burning cigarette -- side stream smoke -- is a major component in passive smoking that damages the children's blood vessels, the study said.

"Children exposed to cigarette smoke may develop early heart disease as adults due to  ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/54308067.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Children exposed to passive smoking may be at risk of lifelong cardiovascular consequences in addition to respiratory and other health issues, warns an Indian origin researcher.

The high level of toxicity in the smoke that comes from the end of a burning cigarette -- side stream smoke -- is a major component in passive smoking that damages the children's blood vessels, the study said.

"Children exposed to cigarette smoke may develop early heart disease as adults due to  ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/54308067.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst