Martyn C N, Barker D J
MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Health Rep. 1994;6(1):45-53.
Follow-up studies of several thousand people who were born in the first half of this century in England and who had been measured and weighed at birth by midwives or health visitors were carried out to investigate how these early measurements were related to the later occurrence of illness and death and to levels of risk factors for ischemic heart disease and stroke. The mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases was higher in people who as babies had been lightweight or short at birth or who had grown poorly during infancy. Levels of blood pressure in adult life were highest in people who had been small at birth. Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen were highest in men who had grown least during the first year of life. These findings suggest that reduced fetal and infant growth is an important determinant of risk of cardiovascular disease in adult life. They have implications for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, and they may help us understand international differences in rates of stroke and the secular trends in stroke mortality.
对数千名在本世纪上半叶出生于英国、出生时由助产士或健康访视员测量过身高体重的人进行了随访研究，以调查这些早期测量数据与后来疾病和死亡的发生情况以及缺血性心脏病和中风的风险因素水平之间的关系。在婴儿期体重轻、身材矮或婴儿期生长发育不良的人群中，心血管疾病的死亡率更高。成年后血压水平最高的是出生时体型小的人。在生命第一年生长最少的男性中，血浆纤维蛋白原浓度最高。这些发现表明，胎儿和婴儿期生长发育受限是成年后心血管疾病风险的一个重要决定因素。它们对心血管疾病的预防具有启示意义，可能有助于我们理解中风发病率的国际差异以及中风死亡率的长期趋势。
