Differential associations between state-level educational quality and cardiovascular health by race: Early-life exposures and late-life health

Abstract Background Existing evidence suggests that there is an association between body size and prevalent Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)-related outcomes and nocturia. However, there is limited evidence on the association between body size throughout the life-course and incident BPH-related outcomes. Methods Our study population consisted of men without histories of prostate cancer, BPH-related outcomes, or nocturia in the intervention arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) (n = 4710). Associations for body size in early- (age 20), mid- (age 50) and late-life (age ≥ 55, mean age 60.7 years) and weight change with incident BPH-related outcomes (including self-reported nocturia and physician diagnosis of BPH, digital rectal examination-estimated prostate volume ≥ 30 cc, and prostate-specific antigen [PSA] concentration > 1.4 ng/mL) were examined using Poisson regression with robust variance estimation. Results Men who were obese in late-life were 25% more likely to report nocturia (Relative Risk (RR): 1.25, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.11–1.40; p-trendfor continuous BMI < 0.0001) and men who were either overweight or obese in late-life were more likely to report a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRoverweight: 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.21; RRobese: 1.10, 95% CI 1.02–1.19; p-trendfor continuous BMI = 0.017) as compared to normal weight men. Obesity at ages 20 and 50 was similarly associated with both nocturia and prostate volume ≥ 30 cc. Considering trajectories of body size, men who were normal weight at age 20 and became overweight or obese by later-life had increased risks of nocturia (RRnormal to overweight: 1.09, 95% CI 0.98–1.22; RRnormal to obese: 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.47) and a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRnormal to overweight: 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20). Too few men were obese early in life to examine the independent effect of early-life body size. Later-life body size modified the association between physical activity and nocturia. Conclusions We found that later-life body size, independent of early-life body size, was associated with adverse BPH outcomes, suggesting that interventions to reduce body size even late in life can potentially reduce the burden of BPH-related outcomes and nocturia.

Download Full-text

Early life exposures to home dampness, pet ownership and farm animal contact and neuropsychological development in 4 year old children: A prospective birth cohort study

International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health ◽

10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.12.013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 216 (6) ◽

pp. 690-697 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Lidia Casas ◽

Maties Torrent ◽

Jan-Paul Zock ◽

Gert Doekes ◽

Joan Forns ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Early Life ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Pet Ownership ◽

Neuropsychological Development ◽

Animal Contact ◽

Early Life Exposures ◽

Prospective Birth Cohort ◽

Prospective Birth Cohort Study

Download Full-text

Early life factors as predictors of age-associated deficit accumulation across 17 years from midlife into old age

The Journals of Gerontology Series A ◽

10.1093/gerona/glac007 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Markus J Haapanen ◽

Juulia Jylhävä ◽

Lauri Kortelainen ◽

Tuija M Mikkola ◽

Minna Salonen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Old Age ◽

Early Life ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Linear Mixed Model ◽

Frailty Index ◽

Rate Of Change ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Maternal Body Mass Index ◽

Early Life Factors ◽

Early Life Exposures

Abstract Background Early life exposures have been associated with the risk of frailty in old age. We investigated whether early life exposures predict the level and rate of change in a frailty index (FI) from midlife into old age. Methods A linear mixed model analysis was performed using data from three measurement occasions over 17 years in participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study (n=2000) aged 57-84 years. A 41-item FI was calculated on each occasion. Information on birth size, maternal body mass index (BMI), growth in infancy and childhood, childhood socioeconomic status (SES), and early life stress (wartime separation from both parents), was obtained from registers and healthcare records. Results At age 57 years the mean FI level was 0.186 and the FI levels increased by 0.34 percent/year from midlife into old age. Larger body size at birth associated with a slower increase in FI levels from midlife into old age. Per 1kg greater birth weight the increase in FI levels per year was -0.087 percentage points slower (95% CI=-0.163, -0.011; p=0.026). Higher maternal BMI was associated with a higher offspring FI level in midlife and a slower increase in FI levels into old age. Larger size, faster growth from infancy to childhood, and low SES in childhood were all associated with a lower FI level in midlife but not with its rate of change. Conclusions Early life factors seem to contribute to disparities in frailty from midlife into old age. Early life factors may identify groups that could benefit from frailty prevention, optimally initiated early in life.

Download Full-text

Epigenetics and DOHaD: from basics to birth and beyond

Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease ◽

10.1017/s2040174417000733 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 513-519 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

T. Bianco-Miotto ◽

J. M. Craig ◽

Y. P. Gasser ◽

S. J. van Dijk ◽

S. E. Ozanne

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Chronic Disease ◽

Chronic Diseases ◽

Early Life ◽

Later Life ◽

Metabolic Health ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Early Life Environment ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Early Life Exposures

Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is the study of how the early life environment can impact the risk of chronic diseases from childhood to adulthood and the mechanisms involved. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs are involved in mediating how early life environment impacts later health. This review is a summary of the Epigenetics and DOHaD workshop held at the 2016 DOHaD Society of Australia and New Zealand Conference. Our extensive knowledge of how the early life environment impacts later risk for chronic disease would not have been possible without animal models. In this review we highlight some animal model examples that demonstrate how an adverse early life exposure results in epigenetic and gene expression changes that may contribute to increased risk of chronic disease later in life. Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are chronic diseases with an increasing incidence due to the increased number of children and adults that are obese. Epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation have been shown to be associated with metabolic health measures and potentially predict future metabolic health status. Although more difficult to elucidate in humans, recent studies suggest that DNA methylation may be one of the epigenetic mechanisms that mediates the effects of early life exposures on later life risk of obesity and obesity related diseases. Finally, we discuss the role of the microbiome and how it is a new player in developmental programming and mediating early life exposures on later risk of chronic disease.

Download Full-text

Size at birth, lifecourse factors, and cognitive function in late life: findings from the MYsore study of Natal effects on Ageing and Health (MYNAH) cohort in South India

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610221001186 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Murali Krishna ◽

Ghattu V. Krishnaveni ◽

Veena Sargur ◽

Kalyanaraman Kumaran ◽

Mohan Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Brain Development ◽

Educational Level ◽

Early Life ◽

South India ◽

Late Life ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Cardiometabolic Disorders ◽

Size At Birth

ABSTRACT Objective: To examine if smaller size at birth, an indicator of growth restriction in utero, is associated with lower cognition in late life, and whether this may be mediated by impaired early life brain development and/or adverse cardiometabolic programming. Design: Longitudinal follow-up of a birth cohort. Setting: CSI Holdsworth Memorial Hospital (HMH), Mysore South India. Participants: 721 men and women (55–80 years) whose size at birth was recorded at HMH. Approximately 20 years earlier, a subset (n = 522) of them had assessments for cardiometabolic disorders in mid-life. Measurements: Standardized measurement of cognitive function, depression, sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors; blood tests and assessments for cardiometabolic disorders Results: Participants who were heavier at birth had higher composite cognitive scores (0.12 SD per SD birth weight [95% CI 0.05, 0.19] p = 0.001) in late life. Other lifecourse factors independently positively related to cognition were maternal educational level and participants’ own educational level, adult leg length, body mass index, and socioeconomic position, and negatively were diabetes in mid-life and current depression and stroke. The association of birth weight with cognition was independent cardiometabolic risk factors and was attenuated after adjustment for all lifecourse factors (0.08 SD per SD birth weight [95% CI −0.01, 0.18] p = 0.07). Conclusions: The findings are consistent with positive effects of early life environmental factors (better fetal growth, education, and childhood socioeconomic status) on brain development resulting in greater long-term cognitive function. The results do not support a pathway linking poorer fetal development with reduced late life cognitive function through cardiometabolic programming.

Download Full-text

Lifelong Cytomegalovirus and Early-Life Irradiation Synergistically Potentiate Age-Related Defects in Response to Vaccination and Infection

10.1101/2021.12.01.470812 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jason L. Pugh ◽

Christopher P. Coplen ◽

Alona S. Sukhina ◽

Jennifer L. Uhrlaub ◽

Jose Padilla-Torres ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Early Life ◽

Acute Infection ◽

Late Life ◽

Whole Body ◽

Murine Cytomegalovirus ◽

Live Attenuated Vaccine ◽

Age Related ◽

Theory Of Aging ◽

High Level

ABSTRACTA popular “DNA-damage theory” of aging posits that unrepaired DNA damage leads to cellular (and organismal) senescence. Indeed, some hallmarks of immune aging are more prevalent in individuals exposed to Whole-Body Irradiation (WBI). To test this hypothesis in a model relevant to human immune aging, we examined separate and joint effects of lifelong latent Murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) and early-life WBI (i) over the course of the lifespan; (ii) in response to a West Nile virus (WNV) live attenuated vaccine; and (iii) following lethal WNV challenge subsequent to vaccination. We recently published that a single dose of non-lethal WBI in youth, on its own, was not sufficient to accelerate aging of the murine immune system despite causing widespread DNA damage and repopulation stress in hematopoietic cells. However, 4Gy sub-lethal WBI caused manifest reactivation of MCMV. Following vaccination and challenge with WNV in the old age, MCMV-infected animals experiencing 4Gy, but not lower, dose of sub-lethal WBI in youth had reduced survival. By contrast, old irradiated mice lacking MCMV and MCMV-infected, but not irradiated, mice were both protected to the same high level as the old non-irradiated, uninfected controls. Analysis of the quality and quantity of anti-WNV immunity showed that higher mortality in MCMV-positive WBI mice correlated with increased levels of MCMV-specific immune activation during WNV challenge. Moreover, we demonstrate that infection, including that by WNV, led to MCMV reactivation. Our data suggest that MCMV reactivation may be an important determinant of increased late-life mortality following early-life irradiation and late-life acute infection.

Download Full-text