A child’s future heart health may be partially shaped before they are born, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study that found pregnancy complications are linked to poorer cardiovascular health in offspring more than 20 years later.

The study found that young adults whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy — either pregnancy-associated hypertension, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia — had more signs of early arterial injury, higher blood pressure, higher body mass index and higher blood sugar than peers.

The authors said the study adds to growing evidence that cardiovascular risk may be transmitted across generations through a combination of biological, environmental and behavioral factors.

“That means we must make sure people maintain good health from childhood into young adulthood, so that if or when someone becomes a parent, they pass on the best opportunity for good health to their children,” said study senior author Dr. Nilay Shah, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

How the study was conducted

Shah and colleagues evaluated nearly 1,350 mother-child pairs from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study, which enrolled mothers and children at birth between 1998 and 2000 across 20 U.S. cities. The children were then followed into adulthood.

Using delivery hospitalization records, the Northwestern scientists first identified whether mothers experienced pregnancy complications, including high blood pressure during pregnancy, gestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy) or preterm birth (before 37 weeks of pregnancy).

The three pregnancy complications are on the rise, and affect almost one in four pregnancies in the U.S.

The research team then analyzed cardiovascular health of offspring at age 22, using blood pressure measurements, blood testing, body mass index assessments and carotid artery ultrasounds to look for signs of artery injury.

Finally, the scientists compared participants with and without exposure to each pregnancy complication and adjusted for factors like income, education, difference in birth weight and smoking during pregnancy.

Key findings

At around age 22, participants whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy had:

• Higher body mass index (+2.8 BMI points)
• Higher diastolic blood pressure (+2.3 mm Hg)
• Higher blood sugar levels (+0.2% HbA1c)
• Thicker artery walls (~0.02 mm)

While the difference in artery wall thickness may seem small, the study authors said it corresponds to roughly three to five years of additional vascular aging. That means arteries looked older and less healthy than expected, which raises the risk of future heart disease.

Other pregnancy complications also showed some long-term effect:

• Exposure to gestational diabetes was linked to worse blood pressure and some evidence of artery thickening
• Being born preterm was associated with higher blood sugar levels

‘Most heart disease is preventable’

With pregnancy complications on the rise in the U.S., Shah said the study provides compelling evidence that improving health before and during pregnancy could help reduce heart disease risk in the next generation.

“There is evidence that both parents’ health at the time of conception and during pregnancy influences a child’s health,” he said. “So, promoting health from an early age, like exercising regularly, eating healthfully, never smoking and getting enough sleep, is not just meant for an individual, but doing so may help future generations be healthier, too.”

Shah also emphasizes that risk is not destiny.

“The good news is that most heart disease is preventable,” he said. “If you experienced high blood pressure or high blood sugar during pregnancy, or your child was born early, it does not absolutely mean that your child will have worse health as adults. But I would encourage you to pay attention now to your child’s health behaviors.

“What children learn in childhood sets the stage for their health across their lives. If you are wondering whether your children’s behaviors are healthy, or are considering making a change, please speak with your child’s pediatrician for advice and guidance.”

Other Northwestern co-authors include Emily Lam, Abigail Gauen, Dr. Sadiya Khan, Alexa Freedman and Norrina Allen.

A healthy brain may help protect thinking and memory skills from the early effects of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found.

Dementia is currently the leading cause of death in Australia and Alzheimer’s disease is its most common form — accounting for more than 70% of cases.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease in which cognitive abilities gradually decline, leading to impaired memory and thinking skills.

However, some people maintain high levels of cognitive function even though their brains show early signs of the disease. Specifically, some older adults have Alzheimer’s‑related brain pathology, but no noticeable cognitive problems.

The study, Cognitive and Brain Reserve as Modifiers of Early Alzheimer Disease–Related Cognitive Vulnerability, was a collaboration between Murdoch University and AdventHealth, and investigated why some people remain cognitively healthy despite early Alzheimer’s‑related brain changes.

“Our study looked at why some brains were more resilient than others, and whether factors such as peoples’ education, socioeconomic status and health of their brain made a difference,” said lead author Dr Kelsey Sewell, from Murdoch University’s School of Allied Health.

“Understanding these protective factors could help us develop earlier and more targeted strategies to minimise the effects of the disease on memory and thinking skills,” she said.

The research team analysed data from more than 600 older adults in the United States aged 65 to 80, who were living independently and had no signs of dementia or memory impairment.

They used blood tests and MRI scans to assess early Alzheimer’s‑related changes and overall brain health, examined life and social factors such as years of education, income, savings and financial security, and conducted cognitive tests measuring memory, attention, processing speed, working memory and executive function.

“Our main finding was that maintaining good overall brain health may help reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s‑related changes on cognitive function,” Dr Sewell said.

“We also observed early evidence that people with a higher socioeconomic status may be less affected by Alzheimer’s-related changes when it comes to memory, although more research is needed to confirm this relationship.”

Dr Sewell said the main takeaway for the public was to do everything you can to maintain a healthy brain.

“Things like exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, sleeping well, and finding new cognitive challenges can help to maintain a healthy brain. It is never too late, or too early to start,” she said .

“These results underscore the need for coordinated action across research, policy, and industry to design environments that support healthier choices and promote brain health at a population level.”

The data collection for this study was led by researchers at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida.

The paper, Cognitive and Brain Reserve as Modifiers of Early Alzheimer Disease–Related Cognitive Vulnerability, was published in the journal Neurology.

Clinical trials have shown that consumption of grapes can increase the resilience of skin to UV irradiation in about 30-50% of the subject population. 

New studies published in the current issue of the journal ACS Nutrition Science suggest the effect of consuming grapes on human skin health is much broader – most likely affecting everyone. 

The investigation was performed with human volunteers who consumed the equivalent of three servings of whole grapes each day for two weeks. Gene expression in skin was determined before and after grape consumption, with and without exposure of skin to low doses of UV irradiation. 

The results demonstrated inter- and intraindividual differences of gene expression in the skin. In other words, from the outset, gene expression in the skin of each individual was different. The expression changed when the subjects consumed grapes or when exposed to UV irradiation, but still each individual was different from one another. Further unique changes were observed when UV irradiation was combined with grape consumption. 

Consequently, while gene expression is different when comparing one person to another person, the gene expression of every person changed after consuming grapes. 

When searching for a functional commonality resulting from these changes in gene expression after consuming grapes, the investigators were able to construe the myriads of data as being indicative of enhanced skin keratinization and cornification, which are known to create a  barrier against environmental damage. This idea was reinforced by exposing skin to a low dose of UV irradiation and measuring the generation of malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress, which was reduced when the subjects consumed grapes. 

 “We are now certain that grapes act as a superfood and mediate a nutrigenomic response in humans,” said John Pezzuto, Ph.D., Professor and Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Western New England University. 

“We observed this with the largest organ of the body, the skin. The changes in gene expression indicated improvements in skin health. But beyond skin, it is nearly certain that grape consumption affects gene expression in other somatic tissues of the body, such as liver, muscle, kidney and even brain. This helps us to understand how consumption of a whole food, in this case grapes, affects our overall health. It’s very exciting to be working in the post-genomics era where we can finally start to employ functional genomics and actually visualize complex matrices indicative of nutrigenomic responses.”