More and more studies find link between health conditions later in life and the circumstances one experienced during childhood. A new research, for instance, has found that people who were severely malnourished at a young age have elevated risks to suffer from hypertension as adults.
In a new study that was published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension on June 30, Terrence Forrester, from the UWI Solutions for Developing Countries at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, and colleagues found evidence that poor nutrition from before birth until 5 years old can have a negative impact on the development of the heart.
For the study, the researchers compared 116 adults who experienced severe acute malnutrition (SAM) while growing up in Jamaica with 45 individuals who were adequately fed when they were young.
The first group of participants, who were 29 years old on average during the study, had been treated when they were about 1 year old for severe malnutrition. Of these 116 participants, 53 percent suffered from kwashiorkor, a type of malnutrition characterized by not getting enough protein in the diet, and 47% suffered from marasmus, which is caused by a deficiency in protein, carbohydrates and fats. Unlike in children with kwashiorkor, swelling of the body is observed in those with marasmus due to retention of fluids.
The researchers measured all of the participants' height, weight and blood pressure levels and had them undergo echocardiogram, a type of imaging test that is used to identify abnormalities in the heart muscles and valves.
The researchers found that compared with the participants who did not experience malnutrition during childhood; the participants who were severely malnourished when they were young had elevated risks for hypertension. They had higher diastolic blood pressure, greater resistance to blood flow in the smaller blood vessels and their hearts pumped less efficiently compared with the adequately fed participants, factors that increase risks for high blood pressure that is associated with stroke and cardiovascular diseases.
Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that individuals who experienced severe malnutrition during childhood are likely to develop high blood pressure particularly if they have weight problems.
"We conclude that adult SAM survivors had smaller outflow tracts and cardiac output when compared with controls, yet markedly elevated peripheral resistance," Forrester and colleagues wrote. "Malnutrition survivors are thus likely to develop excess hypertension in later life, especially when exposed to obesity."
Although severe malnutrition is often associated with poorer countries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that as of 2012, over 8 million children in the U.S. come from households that have difficulty providing enough foods for all members of the family.
