New pregnancy diet clue
Thursday November 10th, 2011
Some children are doomed to face obesity and diabetes because of deficiencies in their mothers' diets during pregnancy, British researchers say today.
Dr
Ponnusamy Saravanan is reporting findings showing how vitamin B12 deficiency
leads to babies being at risk of diabetes and heart disease early in life.
Dr Saravanan says his research team is getting close to finding out how micro-nutrients, such as vitamins, interact with the baby's genes in the womb.
He is reporting his findings to Warwick Medical School's International Symposium on Human Metabolism Research.
Dr Saravanan calls for "primordial prevention" to tackle the risks of common diseases at the earliest possible stage.
The latest findings come from a collaboration with Southampton University and the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Pune, India.
He said: "We believe that the micro-nutrients in a woman's diet fundamentally influence how the DNA functions, and this gene-diet interaction determines, at least in part, whether you are going to be more prone to being overweight as an adult.
"Warwick's research on the functions of fat cells, indeed shows such imbalance of micronutrients fundamentally affects how energy is handled by these cells."
Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Diabetes | Diet & Food | Heart Health | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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