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PubMed1998

[Genes and intra-uterine growth retardation].

Genetic analysis of growth from birth to adulthood shows the existence of a strong genetic component in the variance of size at particular milestones in the growth process, such as height at take-off, at peak velocity and at adulthood. While it is well known that postnatal growth is strongly genetically determined, the importance of genes in normal variations of prenatal growth is less known. Genetic analysis of prenatal growth in human is not an easy problem and weighing the genetic and non-genetic component in intra-uterine growth retardation an almost impossible task. It is now well known that adults who had a low birthweight or who were thin at birth, with a low ponderal index, tend to be insulin resistant and have an increased risk of developing non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus later in life. According to the thrifty genotype hypothesis, genes predisposing to type 2 diabetes mellitus are very likely to have been survival genes for our ancestors, helping them to store energy during long periods of starvation. Both epidemiological surveys of adults born after prenatal exposure to exposure to famine and biochemical investigations of insulin resistance in low birthweight children show that the association between a low birthweight and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life has a genetic basis. While low birthweight infants have a decreased survival probability in infancy, having a small baby may have been a selective advantage during long periods of starvation. This could explain why the same genetic variants cause low birthweight phenotype and insulin resistance predisposing to non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Documented homicides and excess deaths: new insights into the scale of killing in the USSR during the 1930s.

"Getty, Rittersporn and Zemskov recently claimed that no more than 2 million people could have perished from collectivization, famine, execution, terror, and forced labor in the USSR during the 1930s. Prior demographic confirmation of this estimate was provided by Anderson and Silver who contended that killings were unlikely to exceed a few million and could not be more than 4.8 million victims. This essay disproves both these contentions by introducing new demographic evidence proving that Stalin killed at least 5.2 million Soviet citizens 1927-1938, with a best estimate in the vicinity of 10 million."

Cause of Death↗
PubMed2006

An evolutionary concept of polycystic ovarian disease: does evolution favour reproductive success over survival?

Polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) is currently considered as possibly the most frequent cause of female infertility. It is also closely associated with syndrome XX, which, in turn, is closely linked with premature and excessive mortality. Considering these adverse effects on reproductive success and human survival, the evolutionary survival of PCOD, itself considered by many to be a genetically transmitted condition, would, on first glance, appear surprising, since evolution usually discriminates against both of these traits. However, an analysis of some recently reported characteristics of the condition calls for the reconsideration of PCOD as a condition which, from an evolutionary viewpoint, favours decreased reproductive success. Indeed, the reported observations that patients with PCOD will resume spontaneous ovulation with even relatively minor weight loss, and experience later menopause than controls, suggests exactly the opposite. Under an evolutionary concept, PCOD can thus be seen as a 'fertility storage condition' which in fact favours human reproductive success and allows the human species to maintain fertility even during adverse environmental circumstances, such as famines.

Anovulation↗
PubMed2006

Scabies: a ubiquitous neglected skin disease.

Scabies has been a scourge among human beings for thousands of years. Its worldwide occurrence with epidemics during war, famine, and overcrowding is responsible for an estimated 300 million people currently infested. Scabies refers to the various skin lesions produced by female mites, and their eggs and scybala that are deposited in the epidermis, leading to delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction. Recent immunological findings such as cross-reactivity with house dust mite allergens and an altered T-helper-1/T-helper-2 pattern contribute to a better understanding of the pathomechanism. Furthermore, progress in molecular biology and cloning of relevant antigens could enable the development of a diagnostic ELISA system and candidate vaccines in the near future. Typical and atypical clinical presentations with pruritus as a hallmark of scabies occur in young, pregnant, immunocompromised, and elderly patients and include bullous and crusted (Norwegian) manifestations as well as those masked by steroid use (scabies incognito). This article reviews scabies management strategies in developed countries and resource-poor communities as well as typical complications, including the emergence of resistance and drug-related adverse events. Other problems such as post-scabies eczema and reinfestation, and newer treatments such as ivermectin are also discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Twinning rate in Scandinavia, Germany and The Netherlands during years of privation.

Twinning rates were studied in Swedes, Aland Islanders, Finns, Germans, and Dutch during years of starvation when death rates were two to three times higher than average. In contrast to the situation among some animals, this study suggests that nutrition above a certain threshold is unimportant for human reproduction, including twinning. The twinning rates for these different populations display marked temporal differences, but low values in the twinning rate are not consistently associated with periods of epidemics, famine, or similar nutritional stress. After years of privation and/or separation of spouses, a rapid "catch-up effect" can often be seen in the twinning rates, as well as marriage and birth rates. Psychoendocrine factors and interparental immunological conditions that may be involved in this phenomenon are discussed.

Female↗
PubMed1998

The interacting effects of prices and weather on population cycles in a preindustrial community.

The exogenous cycles and population dynamics of the community at Penrith, Cumbria, England, have been studied (1557-1812) using aggregative analysis, family reconstitution and time series analysis. This community was living under marginal conditions for the first 200 years and the evidence presented is of a homeostatic regime where famine, malnutrition and epidemic disease acted to regulate the balance between resources and population size. This provides an ideal historic population for an investigation of the direct and indirect effects of malnutrition. Throughout the period studied, a short wavelength oscillation in grain prices was apparently the major external factor that drove exogenous cycles in mortality, birth rate, and migration. In particular, the different responses of children to variations in food supply are emphasised; fluctuations in poor nutrition correlated significantly with the variations in mortality rates for infants (probably indirectly during pregnancy and directly during the first year of life) and for young children (via susceptibility to lethal infectious diseases). Migratory movements contributed to the maintenance of homeostasis in the population dynamics. A medium wavelength cycle in low winter temperatures was associated with a rise in adult mortality which, in turn, promoted an influx of migrants into this saturated habitat. A model incorporating these interacting associations between vital events and exogenous cycles is presented: grain prices were an important density-dependent factor and constituted the major component of the negative feedback of this population and drove the exogenous, short wavelength mortality cycles. Cycles of births and immigration provide a positive feedback for the build-up of susceptibles and the initiation of smallpox epidemics and increased population size.

Commerce↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Complex emergencies: expected and unexpected consequences.

Complex emergencies emerged as a new type of disaster following the end of the Cold War, and have become increasingly common in recent years. Human activity including civil strife, war, and political repression often coexist with and contribute to natural phenomena such as famine. They frequently result in high mortality, population displacement, and the disruption of civil society and its infrastructure. This article reviews the context of recent complex emergencies, and their expected health consequences, such as diarrhea, measles, malnutrition and outbreaks of infectious disease, and the disruption of mechanisms of disease control and surveillance. However, the complex nature of these emergencies also may have unexpected consequences, such as hindering understanding of their causes or limiting the attention paid to them by the public. This paper discusses the context and consequences of complex emergencies from the health standpoint, and explores some of their unexpected effects.

Disasters↗
PubMed2006

The evolution of human fatness and susceptibility to obesity: an ethological approach.

Human susceptibility to obesity is an unusual phenomenon amongst animals. An evolutionary analysis, identifying factors favouring the capacity for fat deposition, may aid in the development of preventive public health strategies. This article considers the proximate causes, ontogeny, fitness value and evolutionary history of human fat deposition. Proximate causes include diet composition, physical activity level, feeding behaviour, endocrine and genetic factors, psychological traits, and exposure to broader environmental factors. Fat deposition peaks during late gestation and early infancy, and again during adolescence in females. As in other species, human fat stores not only buffer malnutrition, but also regulate reproduction and immune function, and are subject to sexual selection. Nevertheless, our characteristic ontogenetic pattern of fat deposition, along with relatively high fatness in adulthood, contrasts with the phenotype of other mammals occupying the tropical savannah environment in which hominids evolved. The increased value of energy stores in our species can be attributed to factors increasing either uncertainty in energy availability, or vulnerability to that uncertainty. Early hominid evolution was characterised by adaptation to a more seasonal environment, when selection would have favoured general thriftiness. The evolution of the large expensive brain in the genus Homo then favoured increased energy stores in the reproducing female, and in the offspring in early life. More recently, the introduction of agriculture has had three significant effects: exposure to regular famine; adaptation to a variety of local niches favouring population-specific adaptations; and the development of social hierarchies which predispose to differential exposure to environmental pressures. Thus, humans have persistently encountered greater energy stress than that experienced by their closest living relatives during recent evolution. The capacity to accumulate fat has therefore been a major adaptive feature of our species, but is now increasingly maladaptive in the modern environment where fluctuations in energy supply have been minimised, and productivity is dependent on mechanisation rather than physical effort. Alterations to the obesogenic environment are predicted to play a key role in reducing the prevalence of obesity.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1998

Nutrient content of the edible leaves of seven wild plants from Niger.

Wild plants play an important role in the diet of the inhabitants of Niger. These plants tend to be drought-resistant and are gathered both in times of plenty as well as times of need. Used in everyday cooking, famine foods may be an important source of nutrients. The goal of this study was to investigate the nutritional role of wild plants in the nigérien diet. To this end, leaves of seven plants species were analyzed for their mineral, amino acid and fatty acid contents: Ximenia americana, Amaranthus viridus, Corchorus tridens, Hibiscus sabdarifa, Maerua crassifolia, Moringa oleifera, and Leptadenia hastata. Ximenia americana contained large amounts of calcium. Large quantities of iron were present in Amaranthus viridus. All seven plants contained significant amounts of selenium and phosphorus. Corchorus tridens contained the most protein (19-25% dry weight), and its composition compared favorably to the World Health Organization's standard for essential amino acids. Moringa oleifera contained 17% protein and compared favorably with the WHO standard. Corchorus tridens contained the largest amounts of the two essential fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids. These results reinforce the growing awareness that wild edible plants of the Western Sahel can contribute useful amounts of essential nutrients, including amino acids, fatty acids and trace minerals, to human diets.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1999

Diet in adolescence and the risk of breast cancer: results of the Netherlands Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: In The Netherlands, part of the population experienced food restriction and severe famine during World War II. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of severe undernutrition during adolescence on the risk of breast cancer later in life. METHODS: We examined the hypothesis in the Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer (NLCS), among 62,573 women aged 55-69 years. Baseline information on diet and other risk factors was collected with a questionnaire in 1986. Information was collected on residence in the Hunger winter (1944-1945) and War years (1940-1944) and fathers' employment status in 1932-1940 as indicators of exposure. After 6.3 years of follow-up, 1009 incident breast cases were available for analysis. RESULTS: In multivariate case-cohort analysis, residents of the western part of the country in 1944-1945 had an increased breast cancer risk (western city RR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9-1.4, western rural area RR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1-1.9). For the War years (1940-1944) we found no association between breast cancer risk and urban vs. rural residence. Women whose fathers were unemployed during the Depression years (1932-1940) had a non-significant decrease in breast cancer risk (RR = 0.9, 95% CI: 0.7-1.2). Exposure to energy restriction during the adolescent growth spurt or during the period between menarche and birth of the first child did not change the RRs substantially. CONCLUSIONS: We found no clear evidence in this study for the hypothesis that energy restriction in adolescence leads to a decreased breast cancer risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Expression of an antisense GIGANTEA (GI) gene fragment in transgenic radish causes delayed bolting and flowering.

A late-flowering transgenic radish has been produced by the expression of an antisense GIGANTEA (GI) gene fragment using a floral-dip method. Twenty-five plants were dipped into a suspension of Agrobacterium carrying a 2.5 kb antisense GI gene fragment from Arabidopsis, along with the gusA and bar reporter genes, all under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter. From a total of 1462 seeds harvested from these floral-dipped plants, 16 Basta-resistant T1 plants were found to have GUS activity (transformation efficiency of 1.1%). Southern analysis confirmed the integration of one or two copies of the gusA gene in these herbicide-resistant plants. Expression of the GI gene in T1 plants was much reduced compared to both wildtype plants and plants transformed with pCAMBIA3301 (positive control). In the progenies of eleven T1 plants analysed (T2 generation), all lines showed a significant delay in both bolting and flowering times compared to wildtype and positive control plants, and that, the level of GI transcript was inversely proportional to the time of bolting and flowering. At a maximum, bolting and flowering times were delayed by 17 and 18 days respectively, compared to wildtype plants (in positive control plants, the delay was 23 and 26 days, respectively). Ten of the 11 lines exhibited a significant reduction in plant height compared to wildtype and positive control plants. This study provides evidence that down-regulation of the GI gene by co-suppression could delay bolting in a cold-sensitive long-day (LD) plant. Production of late-flowering germplasms of radish may allow this important crop to be cultivated over an extended period and also provide further food to the famine countries of S/E Asia.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗
PubMed2000

[Junk food revolution or the cola colonization].

In ancient times, the main problem was to get food. Nowadays the difficulty is to decide for or against some foodstuff. In industrialized countries, this abundance led to the fact that people eat differently from what they should. Traditional populations were subject to periods of feast and famine. Those with a metabolism which stored energy with high energetic efficiency had a survival advantage. This is called the 'thrifty' genotype hypothesis. With the secured supply of calories, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, the thrifty genotype becomes disadvantageous, causing obesity. Industrialization or 'cola-colonization' also leads to a dramatic increase in obesity and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in developing countries. The spread of fast food restaurants all over the world has changed modern nutrition fundamentally. Influence begins early in childhood. Advertising concentrates on the selling of image over substance. However, fast food contains high levels of fat, especially trans fatty acids. Higher consumption of trans fatty acids was associated with a higher incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The arms race is ancient history in Arabidopsis, the wildflower.

Plant pathology was born after the nineteenth-century potato famine, and since then insightful genetic experiments have contributed to the great progress in our understanding of disease control. Our current view of plant resistance focuses on numerous polymorphic resistance loci, which contain genes known as R genes. The complete sequence of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome provides a framework for exploring the 'big bang' of R genes that occurred and how R genes evolved in plants from their associations with microorganisms, and for improving strategies for more sustainable deployment of disease resistance in crops.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2004

The challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases have for centuries ranked with wars and famine as major challenges to human progress and survival. They remain among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Against a constant background of established infections, epidemics of new and old infectious diseases periodically emerge, greatly magnifying the global burden of infections. Studies of these emerging infections reveal the evolutionary properties of pathogenic microorganisms and the dynamic relationships between microorganisms, their hosts and the environment.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

The disease triangle: pathogens, the environment and society.

The primary means to define any disease is by naming a pathogen or agent that negatively affects the health of the host organism. Another assumed, but often overlooked, determinant of disease is the environment, which includes deleterious physical and social effects on mankind. The disease triangle is a conceptual model that shows the interactions between the environment, the host and an infectious (or abiotic) agent. This model can be used to predict epidemiological outcomes in plant health and public health, both in local and global communities. Here, the Irish potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century is used as an example to show how the disease triangle, originally devised to interpret plant disease outcomes, can be applied to public health. In parallel, malaria is used to discuss the role of the environment in disease transmission and control. In both examples, the disease triangle is used as a tool to discuss parameters that influence socioeconomic outcomes as a result of host-pathogen interactions involving plants and humans.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Central regulation of energy homeostasis intelligent design: how to build the perfect survivor.

The perfect survivor must be able to eat and store as many calories as possible when food is readily available as a buffer against periods of scarcity. He must also reduce energy expenditure when food is scarce and efficiently and accurately restore lost adipose stores when food is again available. These processes are dependent on information relayed to a distributed central network of metabolic sensing neurons through hard-wired neural, metabolic, and hormonal signals from the periphery. These sensing neurons engage neuroendocrine, autonomic, and motor processes involved in arousal, motor activity, and the ingestion, absorption, assimilation, storage, and expenditure of calories. A raised threshold in these metabolic sensors for detecting inhibitory signals from increasing adipose stores allows continued intake of excess calories when they are readily available. Unfortunately, this mechanism for surviving periods of feast and famine predisposes the perfect survivor to become obese when highly palatable, energy dense foods are readily available at low energetic cost. It further assures that raised adipose stores are metabolically defended against attempts to lower them. Thus, effective treatment of obesity will only come with a better understanding of the physiological, metabolic, and neurochemical processes that ensure this defense of an elevated body weight.

Brain↗
PubMed2002

Pathways from weight fluctuations to metabolic diseases: focus on maladaptive thermogenesis during catch-up fat.

It has long been known that obesity is a high risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In more recent years, the analysis of several large epidemiological databases has also revealed that, independently of excess weight, large fluctuations in body weight at some point earlier in life represent an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes and hypertension-two major contributors to cardiovascular diseases. High cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have indeed been reported in men and women who in young adulthood experienced weight fluctuations (involving the recovery of body weight after weight loss due to disease, famine or voluntary slimming), or when weight fluctuations occurred much earlier in life and involved catch-up growth after fetal or neonatal growth retardation. This paper addresses the pathways from weight fluctuations to chronic metabolic diseases by focusing on the phenomenon of accelerated fat recovery (ie catch-up fat) after weight loss or growth retardation. Arguments are put forward that, during catch-up growth or weight recovery on our modern refined foods, the mechanisms of adaptive thermogenesis that regulate catch-up fat are pushed beyond the limits for which they were meant to operate and turn maladaptive. The consequences are enhanced susceptibilities towards skeletal muscle insulin resistance and overactive sympathetic activity, both of which are major contributors to the pathogenesis of chronic metabolic diseases. Since weight fluctuation earlier in life (independently of excess weight later in life) is an independent risk factor for metabolic diseases, the mechanisms by which body fat is acquired would seem to be at least as important as the consequences of excess fat per se in the pathogenesis of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2003

The influence of birthweight and intrauterine environment on adiposity and fat distribution in later life.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on the association between birthweight and body mass index (BMI) and obesity in later life. METHODS: Included in the review were papers appearing in Medline since 1966 and identified using the search terms obesity, body fat, waist, body constitution, birthweight and birth weight. Further papers were identified by examining bibliographies. RESULTS: There is good evidence that there is an association between birthweight and subsequent BMI and overweight in young adults and children, which is linear and positive in some studies and J- or U-shaped in others. The evidence is less strong for middle-aged subjects. Studies that have assessed lean body mass (LBM) and fat body mass have tended to find that birthweight is positively associated with LBM and negatively associated with relative adiposity. This suggests that the association between birthweight and BMI/overweight does not necessarily reflect increased adiposity at higher birthweights. On controlling for current body mass there is fairly consistent evidence of a negative association between birthweight and a central pattern of fat distribution as measured by central:peripheral skinfold ratios. It has been suggested that the prenatal period is a 'critical' period for the development of adiposity, but it is unclear how far associations between birthweight and subsequent body habitus are genetic in origin and how far they result from intrauterine 'programming'. Two lines of evidence would suggest that the association is predominantly genetic. Studies of monozygotic twins have found environmentally determined differences in birthweight to be unrelated to subsequent BMI, and the association between birthweight and BMI is substantially reduced on controlling for parental BMI. However, some evidence of an influence of intrauterine environment on later obesity comes from studies of subjects who were exposed in utero to the effects of diabetes, famine conditions or smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The reasons for the positive association between birthweight and BMI remain unclear. More studies including accurate measurement of body composition are needed to assess how far this relation is accounted for by changes in fat mass or by changes in lean mass. Studies with accurate measures of parental BMI would also be useful in assessing the importance of this confounder.

Adipose Tissue↗