Boys live dangerously in the womb
Boys live dangerously in the womb
The growth of every human fetus is constrained by the limited capacity of the mother and placenta to deliver nutrients to it. At birth, boys tend to be longer than girls at any placental weight. Boy's placentas may therefore be more efficient than girls, but may have less reserve capacity. In the womb boys grow faster than girls and are therefore at greater risk of becoming undernourished. Fetal undernutrition leads to small size at birth and cardiovascular disorders, including hypertension, in later life. We studied 2003 men and women aged around 62 years who were born in Helsinki, Finland, of whom 644 had hypertension: we examined their body and placental size at birth. In both sexes, hypertension was associated with low birth weight. In men, hypertension was also associated with a long minor diameter of the placental surface. The dangerous growth strategy of boys may be compounded by the costs of compensatory placental enlargement in late gestation. In women, hypertension was associated with a small placental area, which may reduce nutrient delivery to the fetus. In men, hypertension was linked to the mothers' socioeconomic status, an indicator of their diets: in women it was linked to the mothers' heights, an indicator of their protein metabolism. Boys' greater dependence on their mothers' diets may enable them to capitalize on an improving food supply, but it makes them vulnerable to food shortages. The ultimate manifestation of their dangerous strategies may be that men have higher blood pressures and shorter lives than women.
330-335
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Thornburg, Kent
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Barker, David J.P.
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May 2010
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Thornburg, Kent
b407f955-ba0d-458b-8e16-5c536ab12605
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Eriksson, Johan G., Kajantie, Eero, Osmond, Clive, Thornburg, Kent and Barker, David J.P.
(2010)
Boys live dangerously in the womb.
American Journal of Human Biology, 22 (3), .
(doi:10.1002/ajhb.20995).
Abstract
The growth of every human fetus is constrained by the limited capacity of the mother and placenta to deliver nutrients to it. At birth, boys tend to be longer than girls at any placental weight. Boy's placentas may therefore be more efficient than girls, but may have less reserve capacity. In the womb boys grow faster than girls and are therefore at greater risk of becoming undernourished. Fetal undernutrition leads to small size at birth and cardiovascular disorders, including hypertension, in later life. We studied 2003 men and women aged around 62 years who were born in Helsinki, Finland, of whom 644 had hypertension: we examined their body and placental size at birth. In both sexes, hypertension was associated with low birth weight. In men, hypertension was also associated with a long minor diameter of the placental surface. The dangerous growth strategy of boys may be compounded by the costs of compensatory placental enlargement in late gestation. In women, hypertension was associated with a small placental area, which may reduce nutrient delivery to the fetus. In men, hypertension was linked to the mothers' socioeconomic status, an indicator of their diets: in women it was linked to the mothers' heights, an indicator of their protein metabolism. Boys' greater dependence on their mothers' diets may enable them to capitalize on an improving food supply, but it makes them vulnerable to food shortages. The ultimate manifestation of their dangerous strategies may be that men have higher blood pressures and shorter lives than women.
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Published date: May 2010
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Local EPrints ID: 152461
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/152461
ISSN: 1042-0533
PURE UUID: 3ab58311-5da1-4e31-af8a-f529015b52c4
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Date deposited: 14 May 2010 11:47
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:38
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Author:
Johan G. Eriksson
Author:
Eero Kajantie
Author:
Kent Thornburg
Author:
David J.P. Barker
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