Contrary to many previous studies, early life factors, such as birth weight and socioeconomic position in childhood, are not important predictors of the risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age, say researchers from the University of Newcastle in this week's British Medical Journal. In fact adult lifestyles are more important than early life experiences in determining the risk of cardiovascular disease, say the authors.
Dr. Douglas Lamont and colleagues studied 154 men and 193 women who were born in 1947 (who had been part of the Newcastle "Thousand Families" study established during that year). The research team ascertained the risk of cardiovascular disease in the study group between October 1996 and December 1998 (aged 49-51 years), by measuring the thickness of the walls of their carotid arteries [the thicker the artery wall the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease].
Lamont et al. then evaluated these measurements in the context of early life experiences (socioeconomic circumstances, adverse life events, illnesses, birth weight, and growth) and adult socioeconomic position and lifestyle (number of cigarettes smoked, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity). They found that adult lifestyle and biological risk markers measured in adulthood (such as obesity and high blood pressure) had a greater effect on the thickness of the carotid artery walls in middle age and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, than early life experiences.
The authors conclude that even though it is clearly important to promote good maternal and child health and to reduce socioeconomic deprivation in childhood, to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age the main focus of intervention should be on trying to alter adult lifestyles.
Risk of cardiovascular disease measured by carotid intima-media thickness at age 49-51: Lifecourse study. British Medical Journal, Volume 320, 29 January 2000, pp 273-8.
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