Abstract
During embryonic life, that is during the 8 weeks after conception, the basic form of the human baby is laid down in miniature. The 5-week-old embryo does not contain a description of the person to whom it will give rise. Rather it contains in its genes a generative programme for making a person, a programme that has been likened to a recipe (1). As development proceeds the destiny of cells becomes determined by their surroundings, by the position they come to occupy in the body, by the signals they receive from neighbouring cells and hence by the genes which become activated.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- CHD:
-
coronary heart disease
- PEPCK:
-
phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase
References
Wolpert L 1991 The Triumph of the Embryo. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Widdowson EM, McCance RA 1975 A review: new thoughts on growth. Pediatr Res 9:154–156
Penrose LS 1954 Some recent trends in human genetics. Caryologia 6 (suppl):521–529
Morton NE 1955 The inheritance of human birthweight. Ann Hum Genet 20:123–134
McCance RA, Widdowson EM 1974 The determinants of growth and form. Proc R Soc Lond 185:1–17
Lucas A 1991 Programming by early nutrition in man. In: Bock GR, Whelan J (eds) The Childhood Environment and Adult Disease. Wiley, Chichester, pp. 38–55
Barraclough CA 1961 Production of anovulatory, sterile rats by single injections of testosterone propionate. Endocrinology 68:62–67
Barker DJP 1994 Mothers, Babies and Disease in Later Life. BMJ Publishing Group, London
Barker DJP, Osmond C 1986 Infant mortality, childhood nutrition, and ischaemic heart disease in England and Wales. Lancet i: 1077–1081
Barker DJP, Winter PD, Osmond C, Margetts B, Simmonds S J 1989 Weight in infancy and death from ischaemic heart disease. Lancet ii:577–580
Osmond C, Barker DJP, Winter PD, Fall CHD, Simmonds S J 1993 Early growth and death from cardiovascular disease in women. Br Med J 307:1519–1524
Hales CN, Barker DJP, Clark PMS, Cox LJ, Fall C, Osmond C, Winter PD 1991 Fetal and infant growth and impaired glucose tolerance at age 64. Br Med J 303:1019–1022
Lithell HO, McKeigue PM, Berglund L, Mashen R, Lithell U-B, Leon DA 1996 Relation of size at birth to non-insulin dependent diabetes and insulin concentrations in men aged 50–60 years. Br Med J 312:406–410
Hale CN, Barker DJP 1992 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus: the thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Diabetologia 35:595–601
Phillips DIW, Barker DJP, Hales CN, Hirst S, Osmond C 1994 Thinness at birth and insulin resistance in adult life. Diabetologia 37:150–154
Taylor DJ, Thompson CH, Kemp GJ, Barnes PRJ, Sanderson A, Radda GK, Phillips DIW 1996 A relationship between impaired fetal growth and reduced muscle glycolysis revealed by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Diabetologia. In press
Barker DJP, Martyn CN, Osmond C, Wield GA 1995 Abnormal liver growth in utero and death from coronary heart disease. Br Med J 310:703–704.
Martyn CN, Meade TW, Stirling Y, Barker DJP 1995 Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen and factor VII in adult life and their relation to intra-uterine growth. Br J Haematol 89:142–146.
Desai M, Crowther N, Lucas A, Hales CN 1994 Programming of hepatic metabolism by low protein diet during early life. Diabetic Med 11:537–591
Fall CHD, Vijayakumar M, Barker DJP, Osmond C, Duggleby S 1995 Weight in infancy and prevalence of coronary heart disease in adult life. Br Med J 310:17–19
Vijayakumar M, Fall CHD, Osmond C, Barker DJP 1995 Birth weight, weight at one year and left ventricular mass in adult life. Br Heart J 73:363–367
Barker DJP, Winter PD, Osmond C, Phillips DIW, Sultan HY 1995 Weight gain in infancy and cancer of the ovary. Lancet 345:1087–1088
Barker DJP, Gluckman PD, Godfrey KM, Harding JE, Owens JA, Robinson JS 1993 Fetal nutrition and cardiovascular disease in adult life. Lancet 341:938–941
Robinson JS, Owens JA, DeBarro T, Lok F, Chidzanja S 1994 Maternal nutrition and fetal growth. In: Ward RHT, Smith SK, Donnai D (eds). Early Fetal Growth and Development, RCOG Press, London
Law CM, de Swiet M, Osmond C, Fayers PM, Barker DJP, Cruddas AM, Fall CHD 1993 Initiation of hypertension in utero and its amplification throughout life. Br Med J 306:24–27
Martyn CN, Barker DJP, Jespersen S, Greenwald S, Osmond C, Berry CL 1995 Growth in utero, adult blood pressure and arterial compliance. Br Heart J 73:116–121
Edwards CRW, Benediktsson R, Lindsay RS, Seckl JR 1993 Dysfunction of placental glucocorticoid barrier: link between fetal environment and adult hypertension? Lancet 341:355–357
Seckl JR 1994 Glucocorticoids and small babies. Q J Med 87:259–262
Langley SC, Jackson A A 1994 Increased systolic blood pressure in adult rats induced by fetal exposure to maternal low protein diets. Clin Sci 86:217–222
McCrabb GJ, Egan AR, Hosking BJ 1992 Maternal undernutrition during mid-pregnancy in sheep: variable effects on placental growth. J Agric Sci 118:127–132
Wheeler T, Sollero C, Alderman S, Landen J, Anthony F, Osmond C 1994 Relation between maternal haemoglobin and placental hormone concentrations in early pregnancy. Lancet 343: 511–513
Barker DJP, Bull AR, Osmond C, Simmonds SJ 1990 Fetal and placental size and risk of hypertension in adult life. Br Med J 301:259–262
Lumey LH 1992 Decreased birthweights in infants after maternal in utero exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944–45. Paediatr Perinatal Epidemiol 6:240–253
Ounsted M, Ounsted C 1966 Maternal regulation of intra-uterine growth. Nature 212:995–997
Gluckman P, Harding J 1992 The regulation of fetal growth. In: Hernandez M, Argente J (eds) Human Growth: Basic and Clinical Aspects. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 253–259
Leveno KJ, Santos-Ramos R, Duenhoelter JH, Reisch JS, Whalley PJ 1979 Sonar cephalometry in twins: a table of biparietal diameters for normal twin fetuses and a comparison with singletons. Am J Obstet Gynecol 135:727–730
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barker, D.J.P. (1996). Fetal undernutrition and disease in adult disease. In: Bindels, J.G., Goedhart, A.C., Visser, H.K.A. (eds) Recent Developments in Infant Nutrition. Tenth Nutricia Symposium, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1790-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1790-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7298-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1790-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive