Overview: The Effects of Chemical Pollutants on the Fetus and Child

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 860-862
Author(s):  
Frederick C. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Young Child ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
First Year ◽  
Fetal Life ◽  
Environmental Chemical ◽  
Chronic Disability ◽  
Chemical Pollutants ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost

What I have to say in my summary will be very personal. It concerns information that has filtered through those remaining neurones, and perhaps reflects certain prejudices which result from a good many years of association with a rather comparable field, the prevention of infectious diseases and the development and introduction of vaccines. This work has many problems similar to those pertaining to chemical pollutants. Throughout this Conference we have emphasized repeatedly the peculiar susceptibility of the fetus and young child to environmental chemical pollutants. It has been pointed out that, in addition to the periods of special vulnerability (particularly evident in early fetal life), the infant and child are more subject to certain environmental risks at different stages of development (e.g., the high incidence of poisonings in toddlers). Our special concern for the fetus and the young child is not based on these considerations alone. Clearly, any adverse happening to an individual early in life, particularly if it affects intellectual achievement, provides a great burden on the social system; and, the longer the period this person must be supported by society, the greater the burden and the greater the cost-not just in money but in many other ways. Death from the socioeconomic point of view is relatively unimportant, compared to a chronic disability. Behavioral psychologists have taught us about imprinting, which is particularly evident in some animals but has not been demonstrated in children. Dr. Holland's comments about the effect of air pollution in the first year of life, and its sequelae in later life are of great importance, and certainly need to be subjected to further study.

scholarly journals Levels of Predominant Intestinal Microorganisms in 1 Month-Old Full-Term Babies and Weight Gain During the First Year of Life

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2412
Author(s):  
Sonia González ◽  
Marta Selma-Royo ◽  
Silvia Arboleya ◽  
Cecilia Martínez-Costa ◽  
Gonzalo Solís ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Full Term ◽  
First Year ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Term Newborns ◽  
Infant Weight Gain ◽  
First Year Of Life

The early life gut microbiota has been reported to be involved in neonatal weight gain and later infant growth. Therefore, this early microbiota may constitute a target for the promotion of healthy neonatal growth and development with potential consequences for later life. Unfortunately, we are still far from understanding the association between neonatal microbiota and weight gain and growth. In this context, we evaluated the relationship between early microbiota and weight in a cohort of full-term infants. The absolute levels of specific fecal microorganisms were determined in 88 vaginally delivered and 36 C-section-delivered full-term newborns at 1 month of age and their growth up to 12 months of age. We observed statistically significant associations between the levels of some early life gut microbes and infant weight gain during the first year of life. Classifying the infants into tertiles according to their Staphylococcus levels at 1 month of age allowed us to observe a significantly lower weight at 12 months of life in the C-section-delivered infants from the highest tertile. Univariate and multivariate models pointed out associations between the levels of some fecal microorganisms at 1 month of age and weight gain at 6 and 12 months. Interestingly, these associations were different in vaginally and C-section-delivered babies. A significant direct association between Staphylococcus and weight gain at 1 month of life was observed in vaginally delivered babies, whereas in C-section-delivered infants, lower Bacteroides levels at 1 month were associated with higher later weight gain (at 6 and 12 months). Our results indicate an association between the gut microbiota and weight gain in early life and highlight potential microbial predictors for later weight gain.

scholarly journals Associations of early social experience with offspring DNA methylation and later life stress phenotype

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary M. Laubach ◽  
Julia R. Greenberg ◽  
Julie W. Turner ◽  
Tracy Montgomery ◽  
Malit O. Pioon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Later Life ◽  
First Year ◽  
Fecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Early Social Experience

ABSTRACTIn a wild population of spotted hyenas, we tested the hypothesis that maternal care during the first year of life and social connectedness during two periods of early development lead to differences in DNA methylation and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) later in life. We found that although maternal care and social connectedness during the communal den dependent period were not associated with fGCMs, greater social connectedness after hyenas leave their communal den is associated with lower adult fGCMs. Additionally, more maternal care and social connectedness after leaving the communal den corresponded with higher global (%CCGG) DNA methylation. Finally, we identified multiple DNA methylation biomarkers near genes involved in inflammation that may link maternal care and stress phenotype. Our findings suggest that both maternal care during the first year of life and social connections after leaving the den influence DNA methylation and contribute to a developmentally plastic stress response.

The Cost of Prematurity: Hospital Charges at Birth and Frequency of Rehospitalizations and Acute Care Visits over the First Year of Life

2005 ◽  
Vol 105 (7) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine D. Cuevas ◽  
Debra R. Silver ◽  
Dorothy Brooten ◽  
JoAnne M. Youngblut ◽  
Charles M. Bobo
Keyword(s):  
Acute Care ◽  
Hospital Charges ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost

scholarly journals Early Introduction of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Caries Trajectories from Age 12 to 48 Months

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (8) ◽  
pp. 898-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bernabé ◽  
H. Ballantyne ◽  
C. Longbottom ◽  
N.B. Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Dental Caries ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
First Year ◽  
Sugar Sweetened Beverages ◽  
Sweetened Beverages ◽  
The Mean ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Over Time

Early exposure to sweet tastes predicts similar food preferences and eating behavior in later life and is associated with childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to explore the associations of early (during the first year of life) and subsequent intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with 4-y caries trajectories among Scottish young children. We used data from 1,111 Scottish children who were followed annually from age 12 to 48 mo (4 sweeps in total). SSB intake was reported by parents in every sweep. SSB intake was broken down into 2 components, the initial SSB intake and the deviation over time from that initial value. Childhood dental caries was clinically determined (including noncavitated and cavitated lesions) every year. The association of SSB intake with baseline decayed, missing, and filled tooth surfaces (dmfs) (intercept) and rate of change in dmfs over time (slope) was examined in 2-level linear mixed-effects models, with repeated observations nested within children. Both the initial SSB intake and the deviation from the initial SSB intake were positively associated with steeper caries trajectories. By sweep 4, the predicted mean dmfs difference was 1.73 between children with low and high initial SSB intake (1 standard deviation below and above the mean) and 1.17 between children with low and high deviation from their initial SSB intake (1 SD below and above the mean). The findings of this prospective study among Scottish young children provide evidence that the introduction of SSBs during the first year of life can put children in a trajectory of high levels of dental caries. They support current recommendations to avoid sugars for very young children and interventions targeting early feeding practices for caries prevention.

First-year survival of great horned owls during a peak and decline of the snowshoe hare cycle

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1092-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Rohner ◽  
D. Bruce Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Survival Rates ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Population Cycle ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mortality Factors ◽  
Bubo Virginianus ◽  
Slow Development ◽  
Snowshoe Hares ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost

Most bird species have low survival rates in their first year of life, and the highest losses occur when juveniles become independent and disperse. Young great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), monitored by telemetry in the southwestern Yukon, Canada, survived well during the peak of the population cycle of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus). Subsequently, juvenile survival collapsed parallel to the decline in hare densities. The proportion of starving owls did not increase, but there was a significant increase in mortalities involving parasitism and predation, probably as an interaction with food shortage. The mortality rates of juvenile great horned owls peaked before, not during, dispersal. We propose that extended parental care makes the postfledging stage safe during optimal conditions, but that the relatively slow development during this stage incurs the cost of increased susceptibility to disease and other mortality factors under environmental stress.

scholarly journals Closer to the Gold Standard: An Appraisal of Formulae Available in Italy for Use in Formula-fed Infants

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 595-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Riva ◽  
E Verduci ◽  
C Agostoni ◽  
M Giovannini
Keyword(s):  
Later Life ◽  
Amino Acid Profile ◽  
First Year ◽  
Breastfed Infants ◽  
Infant Formulae ◽  
Long Term Follow Up ◽  
First Year Of Life

Infant formulae are the only alternatives to breast milk for infants who are unable to continue breastfeeding through the first year of life. They aim to provide formula-fed infants with the same structural and functional benefits observed in breastfed infants. To achieve this, bioactive nutrients have been added to infant formulae in recent years: long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids for neurodevelopment; probiotics and prebiotics for local gastrointestinal defence; and nucleotides for promoting the immune response. Changes in protein quantity and quality allow infant formulae to achieve a balance between providing the correct plasma amino acid profile and reducing the protein intake, which could prevent obesity in later life. Hydrolysed proteins may help prevent atopic disorders. Many short-term trials have been published but long-term follow-up data are needed in infants who have been fed the newer infant formulae, to fully understand the role of bioactive nutrients.

Improving production from September-born Merino lambs with a lupin grain supplement and phomopsis-resistant lupin stubbles

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 713 ◽  
Author(s):  
PW Morcombe ◽  
JG Allen
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Liver Injury ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
First Year ◽  
Ewe Lamb ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Staple Strength ◽  
Good Productivity ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost

As a means of providing nutrition on dry pasture in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, supplements of lupin grain were fed to late-born Merino lambs and their dams before weaning onto lupin stubble. Each ewe-lamb pair consumed an average 19.5 kg lupin grain over the 46 days before weaning. This produced an extra 3.6 kg (P<0.01) liveweight gain by these lambs compared with their unsupplemented cohorts at weaning. The growth of the weaned lambs grazing phomopsis-resistant lupin stubbles was primarily influenced by the amount of residual lupin grain available to each sheep and liver injury caused by ingestion of phomopsins. In the first 69 days of stubble grazing, sheep stocked at 10ha gained 7.3 kg while those stocked at 20ka gained 2.1 kg (P<0.001). In the first 13 months of life, lambs supplemented with lupin grain before weaning grew more (P<0.05) clean wool by 0.17 kg than the unsupplemented lambs. However, the value of this extra wool would not have covered the cost of the lupin grain eaten. Wool staples produced by sheep grazed at 10/ha on lupin stubble were stronger (P<0.001) than those produced by sheep grazed at 20ha (24.4 v. 17.7 N/ktex). The position of greatest weakness in the staple coincided with weight loss prior to removal from the stubble. Singleton lambs born in September and weaned onto a phomopsis-resistant lupin stubble reached liveweights consistent with survival over the summer and good productivity in their first year of life. The effects of lupinosis and reductions in wool staple strength may have been avoided by monitoring liveweight change and taking the sheep off the stubbles when they were near peak liveweight.

Impact of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) Predation on the Crayfish Orconectes virilis in Three Michigan Lakes

1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1191-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Gowing ◽  
W. T. Momot
Keyword(s):  
Brook Trout ◽  
Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Orconectes Virilis ◽  
Trout Population ◽  
Production Growth ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Slow Growing ◽  
Northern Michigan

The crayfish Orconectes virilis is a major component of the benthos of three small lakes in northern Michigan. These lakes contained stocked brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations (age-0 and age-I) at densities of 188, 411, and 1398 fish/ha. Crayfish were preyed upon by brook trout, but only during their first year of life. Two-year production of age-0 crayfish was approximately 94 kg in each lake; brook trout consumed only about 1–2% in lakes with lower density offish. Even with greater trout density and accompanying higher rate of exploitation (40%), there was no impact on recruitment of young crayfish because compensatory mortality of crayfish occurred in lakes with less trout predation. However, stocking trout at higher densities decreased trout growth and condition. While 2-yr production was highest (59 kg/ha) in the lake stocked at the highest density and lowest (17 kg/ha) in one stocked at the lowest density, the former was achieved at the cost of a very slow growing trout population. Most of the crayfish production is not utilized as trout food but enters the non-predatory pool of detrital organic matter. Key words: Orconectes virilis, brook trout, predation, production growth, mortality

scholarly journals Tetracycline Resistance in Escherichia coli and Persistence in the Infantile Colonic Microbiota

2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahid Karami ◽  
Forough Nowrouzian ◽  
Ingegerd Adlerberth ◽  
Agnes E. Wold
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Tetracycline Resistance ◽  
Resistant Variety ◽  
First Year ◽  
Tetracycline Resistance Genes ◽  
Resistant Strains ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Population Counts

ABSTRACT The ecological impact of antibiotic resistance in the absence of selective pressure has been poorly studied. We assessed the carriage of tetracycline resistance genes, persistence in the microbiota, fecal population counts and virulence factor genes in 309 commensal, intestinal Escherichia coli strains obtained from 128 Swedish infants followed during the first year of life with regular quantitative fecal cultures. No infant was given tetracycline, but 25% received other antibiotics. Tetracycline resistance was identified in 12% of strains, all of which carried either tet(A) (49%) or tet(B) (51%) genes. Resistance to other antibiotics occurred in 50% of tet(A)-positive strains, 42% of tet(B)-positive strains and 13% of tetracycline-sensitive strains. However, colonization with tetracycline-resistant strains was unrelated to treatment with antibiotics. Strains that were tet(B)- or tet(A)-positive carried the genes for P fimbriae and aerobactin, respectively, more often than susceptible strains. Tetracycline-resistant and -susceptible strains were equally likely to persist among the intestinal microbiota for ≥3 weeks and had similar population numbers. However, when a resistant strain and a susceptible strain colonized a child simultaneously, the resistant variety showed lower counts (P = 0.03). In cases of long-term colonization by initially tetracycline-resistant E. coli strains, loss of tet genes occurred in 3 of 13 cases with variable effects on population counts. The results indicate that there is limited pressure against the carriage of tet genes in the infantile gut microbiota even in the absence of antibiotics. Resistant strains may possess colonization factors that balance the cost of producing resistance elements.

scholarly journals Costi sanitari di un programma vaccinale: analisi di minimizzazione dei costi

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
G. L. Colombo ◽  
A. Muzio ◽  
R. Giordani
Keyword(s):  
Cost Minimization ◽  
First Year ◽  
Liquid Formulation ◽  
Italian Market ◽  
Global Cost ◽  
Differential Costs ◽  
Mandatory Vaccination ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Components

The global cost of a vaccination program is made up by many more cost components than the acquisition expense, although the former is the first cost usually taken into consideration when comparing two or more alternatives. The present article analyses the economical impact consequent to the use of two different hexavalent vaccine formulations (Hexavac, liquid ready for injection, and Infanrix Hexa, dry, to be re-hydrated) available on the Italian market for the mandatory vaccination of newborns during their first year of life. The cost minimization analysis was conducted considering only differential costs, i.e. those costs than can differ with the use of one of the two products, and not those common to the two competing products, such as acquisition cost (33 euro in average for both), the costs for the organization, the call of the infants to be vaccinated, etc.. The differences among the considered alternatives detected by this study regard the work for the preparation and administration of the vaccines, the quantity of special waste they produce and the incidence of serious febrile reactions leading to pharmacological treatment and physician consultation (body temperature > 40°C). The liquid formulation resulted more convenient in terms of cost for nurse work (0,63 euro saved per patient), waste disposal, and adverse reactions management. The robustness of these results was confirmed by sensitivity analysis and an estimate of the global saving for the Italian health system associated with the universal utilization of the liquid formulation is furnished.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document