Publications by authors named "A M Wiegersma"
Women exposed to famine in early gestation have increased mortality up to age 76 years.
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol
October 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study examines how exposure to famine during early pregnancy affects mortality rates in adults up to age 76, focusing on data from the 1944-1945 Dutch famine.
- It found that women exposed to famine during early gestation had significantly higher overall mortality rates, as well as increased deaths from cancer and cardiovascular issues compared to those who were not exposed.
- Interestingly, the same negative health effects were not observed in men, indicating a gender difference in the impact of prenatal famine exposure on long-term health outcomes.
Background: A poor prenatal environment adversely affects brain development. Studies investigating long-term consequences of prenatal exposure to the 1944-45 Dutch famine have shown that those exposed to famine in early gestation had poorer selective attention, smaller brain volumes, poorer brain perfusion, older appearing brains, and increased reporting of cognitive problems, all indicative of increased dementia risk.
Objective: In the current population-based study, we investigated whether dementia incidence up to age 75 was higher among individuals who had been prenatally exposed to famine.
Objective: Poorer performance on the Stroop task has been reported after prenatal famine exposure at age 58, potentially indicating cognitive decline. We investigated whether brain activation during Stroop task performance at age 74 differed between individuals exposed to famine prenatally, individuals born before and individuals conceived after the famine.
Method: In the Dutch famine birth cohort, we performed a Stroop task fMRI study of individuals exposed (n = 22) or unexposed (born before (n = 18) or conceived after (n = 25)) to famine in early gestation.
Article Synopsis
- Prenatal factors like maternal stress, infection, and nutrition can influence fetal brain development and potentially increase the risk of dementia later in life, prompting a systematic review of existing studies.
- A total of 68 studies were analyzed, focusing on factors like maternal and paternal age, birth order, season of birth, and prenatal exposures, with results indicating that less optimal birth environments correlated with higher dementia risk.
- The review concluded that certain prenatal factors, particularly those linked to unfavorable environments, are associated with increased dementia risk, and highlighted the need for further research to clarify causal relationships while considering confounding factors like socioeconomic status.
People exposed to the 1944-1945 Dutch famine in early gestation performed worse on a selective attention task at age 58 and reported more cognitive problems at age 72. We here hypothesized that undernutrition in early gestation is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in older age and a higher rate of cognitive decline. We tested this hypothesis in the Dutch famine birth cohort in men and women combined and separately.
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