Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved.
Commentary |
Commentary: Birthweight and coronary heart disease in a historical cohort
DoHaD Division (MP 887), University of Southampton, Princess Anne Hospital, Coxford Road, Southampton SO16 5YA, UKE-mail: dipb@mrc.soton.ac.uk
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A challenge to the idea that coronary heart disease originates through slow growth in utero and during infancy is that malnutrition during development is characteristic of the Third World, while the disease is a new Western disorder the incidence of which rises as populations become affluent. The fetal origins hypothesis was first put forward in an attempt to explain the paradox that while coronary heart disease increases with rising prosperity, it is more common in poorer areas of Western countries and among poorer peoples.1 For the disease to occur two influences seem to be necessary, one associated