Nutrition and Wellbeing

Food and disease  –  what  is  the  weakest link


Early origins of diseases

Scientists are exploring links between what we eat, the way we live and effect of our environment on some of the diseases we suffer. These effects of environment have been traced right from before our conception through our life course and increases our risk of suffering certain diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.
In this presentation, Prof. Paul Haggarty, from Rowlett Institute of Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen explains further:
A along  and  healthy  life.  Most  of  us  want  that and  we have a  good idea of  the things  we need to do to  achieve it  -  eat  a  good diet,  don't  put  on too  much weight,  and  avoid  smoking.  But  there is  an emerging area of  research that  suggest  that  events  even before  birth  may  be  influencing our  health  and wellbeing  throughout  life,  from  obesity,  heart  disease,  diabetes, and cancer, to cognitive function.  Interest  in this  possibility  started when researchers  looking  at  historical  birth records  noticed  that  the risk  of  some diseases  in later  life  were related to birth weight  decades  earlier.  These  observations  led researchers  in  Southampton to suggest  that  the  mother's  nutrition in  pregnancy  could impact  on the  health of their  offspring.  Subsequent  research  suggests  that  the period of  sensitivity  may extend beyond pregnancy into breastfeeding and back even before fertilisation.  Birth weight  has  been linked to the risk  of  breast  cancer,  cardiovascular  disease, and  a number  of  other  health outcomes  in adult  life,  and  even intelligence. These  statistical  associations  suggest  that  a fundamental  biological phenomenon  may  be  linking  something  in  the  early  environment  to later  health. Someone suggested that  the cause could be  factors  like stress  in  the mothers during  pregnancy.  But  most  interest  is  focused on  mother's  nutrition and  specific studies  have been carried out  on the effects  of  mother's  consumption of  nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, folic acid, and others.  However,  researchers  are only  beginning  to  understand  how  this  process  works. A  particular  challenge  has  been  how  to  explain the delay  of  decades  between those  early  life influences  and the chronic  diseases  that  they  appear  to give rise to in later  life.  In recent  years,  a new  understanding  of  the  biology  of  the  human genome  has  emerged  that  can  help  explain this  time  delay  and the transgenerational  transmission  of  health and  disease  risk  from  parents  to children.  That  new  idea is  something  called  epigenetics.  The word comes  from  the Greek "epi,"  which means  upon or  over.  And it  refers  to information  in the  human genome over  and above the normal  genetic  information.  This  provides  a mechanism  by  which our  genome  may  be  modifiable  by  the environment  on our experiences  throughout  life.  Epigenetic  changes  can  accumulate  over  our lifetime  and may  explain how  the  environment  before birth  and even  the environment  experienced by  our  parents  before they  were born can  affect  our health.  We know that  one  of  the most  important  ways  in which the  environment  can affect  our  DNA  through  this  epigenetic  process  is  by  something  called methylation.  Developments  in  technology  mean that  we can now  measure  these changes  very  accurately.  In this  process,  the  DNA  is  modified in  a way  that changes  the  function  of  the  human genome.  It  alters  the genes  that  are switched on and off, and ultimately, it influences our biology.  We now know  that  a  wide range  of  nutrients  can change these  epigenetic  states in  ways  that  can impact  our  health and it  could also  be influenced  by  factors such as  social  status,  infertility  treatment,  and  even the emotional  environment. This  emerging  understanding  also  helps  to  explain how  completely  different aspects  of  life,  from  diet  to  physical  activity,  to emotional  health,  and our  ability to cope with stress, can interact at the fundamental level of the genome.  Epigenetic  marks  are known to change over  the life course.  And this  trajectory has  been  linked  to longevity.  Well,  particular  patterns  have been linked to specific  diseases  such  as  cancer.  The concept  is  these changes  accumulate until  they  reach a  stage where they  tip the genome into an unhealthy  state.  And that  when  enough of  these transitions  occur,  it  can give rise to  disease.  New insights emerging from this field are already changing the way we look at health.  When  it  comes  to  things  like pregnancy  advice,  it's  usually  assumed  that  this  is all  the  mum's  responsibility.  She's  the one that  has  to  eat  well,  avoid alcohol,  and smoking,  and keep to  a healthy  weight.  But  this  new  concept  of  epigenetics brings  dad into the  frame  too.  We've known  for  a long  time  that  the  age of  the father  can  affect  the  health in  the  offspring,  particularly  in relation to  psychiatric illnesses  like schizophrenia.  And  we now  understand  that  the  father's  diet  and lifestyle can  influence  the epigenetic  marks  in  the sperm  that  provide half  the genetic makeup of the offspring.  So  maybe it's  time  for  dads  to look  after  their  health too  for  the  sake of  baby. This  emerging  field  of  epigenetics  shows  us  that  what  happens  before birth can influence the way  the human genome works  through the rest  of  our  life,  with potentially  important  consequences  for  our  health  and  wellbeing.  We're only  now beginning  to  understand that  how  we live may  influence the  health of  our children and grandchildren.  The  hope is  that  this  new  understanding  will  help us to develop effective strategies  to  improve the  life chances  for  all  babies  in the future.

Source: Future learn