Mothers, babies, and disease in later life - David Barker

This text presents a full account of the studies by David Barker and his colleagues, which show that the nutrition of the foetus and newborn infant has significant effects on the health of the adult. The findings are made accessible to both medical practitioners and the general scientific reader.;It tells the story from the discovery of unique records of babies from the 1920s, which enabled the MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton to trace and examine adults who were still alive and find out the cause of death of those who had died. The book discusses the scientific basis for the thesis, drawn from animal studies, and reinforces the now widely-accepted tenet that diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular, respiratory disease and diabetes are linked to poor health and nutrition of the mother and baby.;There is a review of the link between early infection and adult diseases, including appendicitis and Paget's disease. Barker concludes with the argument that in order to prevent the chronic diseases so widespread throughout the Western world, we must look to the improvement in health and nutrition in expectant mothers.