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Epigenetic epidemiology: the rebirth of soft inheritance

Epigenetic epidemiology: the rebirth of soft inheritance
Epigenetic epidemiology: the rebirth of soft inheritance
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, constitute the main cause of death worldwide. Eighty percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, especially as these countries undergo socio-economic improvement following reductions in the burden of infectious disease. The World Health Organization predicts a substantial increase in the incidence of NCDs over the next decade globally. NCDs are generally preventable, but current approaches are clearly inadequate. New initiatives are needed to implement such prevention, and there needs to be greater recognition that early-life interventions are likely to be the most efficacious. Devising appropriate prevention strategies necessitates an understanding of how the developmental environment influences risk. Progress in this field has been slow due to an excessive emphasis on fixed genomic variations (hard inheritance) as the major determinants of disease susceptibility. However, new evidence demonstrates the much greater importance of early-life developmental factors, involving epigenetic processes and ‘soft’ inheritance in modulating an individual’s vulnerability to NCD. This also offers opportunities for novel epigenetic biomarkers of risk or interventions targeting epigenetic pathways to be devised for use in early life. This may pave the way to much more effective, customised interventions to promote health across the life course
0250-6807
8-15
Hanson, Mark A.
1952fad1-abc7-4284-a0bc-a7eb31f70a3f
Low, Felicia M.
0f67b4e9-9879-4227-b9e3-10af72a26dc0
Gluckman, Peter D.
ef2e8b92-0b76-4a12-bd7c-01b0674f94d3
Hanson, Mark A.
1952fad1-abc7-4284-a0bc-a7eb31f70a3f
Low, Felicia M.
0f67b4e9-9879-4227-b9e3-10af72a26dc0
Gluckman, Peter D.
ef2e8b92-0b76-4a12-bd7c-01b0674f94d3

Hanson, Mark A., Low, Felicia M. and Gluckman, Peter D. (2011) Epigenetic epidemiology: the rebirth of soft inheritance. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 58, supplement 2, 8-15. (doi:10.1159/000328033).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, constitute the main cause of death worldwide. Eighty percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, especially as these countries undergo socio-economic improvement following reductions in the burden of infectious disease. The World Health Organization predicts a substantial increase in the incidence of NCDs over the next decade globally. NCDs are generally preventable, but current approaches are clearly inadequate. New initiatives are needed to implement such prevention, and there needs to be greater recognition that early-life interventions are likely to be the most efficacious. Devising appropriate prevention strategies necessitates an understanding of how the developmental environment influences risk. Progress in this field has been slow due to an excessive emphasis on fixed genomic variations (hard inheritance) as the major determinants of disease susceptibility. However, new evidence demonstrates the much greater importance of early-life developmental factors, involving epigenetic processes and ‘soft’ inheritance in modulating an individual’s vulnerability to NCD. This also offers opportunities for novel epigenetic biomarkers of risk or interventions targeting epigenetic pathways to be devised for use in early life. This may pave the way to much more effective, customised interventions to promote health across the life course

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More information

Published date: August 2011
Organisations: Human Development & Health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 337151
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/337151
ISSN: 0250-6807
PURE UUID: dcfa1864-6537-4911-878d-a23fbb01c14b
ORCID for Mark A. Hanson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6907-613X

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Date deposited: 19 Apr 2012 14:13
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:07

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Contributors

Author: Mark A. Hanson ORCID iD
Author: Felicia M. Low
Author: Peter D. Gluckman

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