Effect of In Utero and Early-Life Conditions on Adult Health and Disease

Many lines of evidence, including epidemiologic data and extensive clinical and experimental studies, indicate that early life events play a powerful role in influencing later susceptibility to certain chronic diseases. This review synthesizes evidence from several disciplines to support the contention that environmental factors acting during development should be accorded greater weight in models of disease causation. This review synthesizes evidence from several disciplines to support the contention that environmental factors acting during development should be accorded greater weight in models of disease causation. A long latency period between an environmental trigger and the onset of subsequent disease is widely recognized in the etiology of certain cancers, yet this phenomenon is not generally considered in the etiology of other conditions such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, or osteoporosis. However, many lines of evidence, including epidemiologic data and data from extensive clinical and experimental studies, indicate that early life events play a powerful role in influencing later susceptibility to certain chronic diseases. An increased understanding of developmental plasticity (defined as the ability of an organism to develop in various ways, depending on the particular environment . . .