Leader: DNA plays a part, but lifestyle counts too

DOOMED to an impaired life before we are even born? This would seem the depressing conclusion of research by the University of Glasgow’s College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, after studying blood samples of people across deprived and affluent areas of the city.

The broad conclusions have long been suspected: those born in Glasgow’s most deprived areas are more likely to have an increased chance of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life as part of their DNA. What the research does is to set out this process in the most stark terms. The researchers believe that the stressful conditions experienced by expectant mothers in areas of deprivation cause “bugs” to develop in the DNA of their offspring, with those children more susceptible to such conditions as coronary heart disease as a result. The work helps explain the persistence of low life-expectancy figures in areas of Glasgow with high deprivation scores.

It does not necessarily mean that everyone born in poor areas is so afflicted. The critical differential is lifestyle – factors such as dietary habits, exercise, smoking and drinking. These have a most influential bearing.

Nor is the risk of life impairment in pregnancy necessarily confined to those born in areas of high deprivation. The greater prevalence of drinking among young women in the past 40 years as a result of changing social attitudes means that the risk of impairment is much wider. This important research underlines the need to continue to encourage healthier lifestyle choices wherever possible.