1,502 research outputs found
Early life stress and blood pressure levels in late adulthood
No full textSevere stress experienced in early life may have long-term consequences on adult physiological functions. We studied the long-term effects of separation on blood pressure levels in non-obese subjects who were separated temporarily in childhood from their parents during World War II (WWII). The original clinical study cohort consists of people born during 1934–1944 in Helsinki, Finland. This substudy includes 1361 non-obese subjects (body mass index <30?kg?m?2). Of these, 192 (14.1%) had been evacuated abroad during WWII. The remaining subjects served as controls. Blood pressure levels and use of blood pressure medication were studied. The separated subjects had significantly higher systolic blood pressure values than the non-separated (148.6+21.5 vs 142.2+19.6?mm?Hg, P<0.0001) in adult life. Those subjects separated in early childhood had markedly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure values in adult life compared with the non-separated (154.6 vs 142.5?mm?Hg; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.6–14.7; P<0.005 and 90.8 vs 87.7?mm?Hg; 95% CI 1.0–7.3; P<0.02, respectively). Systolic blood pressure was also higher in the group separated for a duration of <1 year (151.7 vs 142.2?mm?Hg; 95% CI 0.0–12.4; P<0.05) compared with the non-separated. Besides being separated, age at separation and duration of separation also influenced blood pressure levels in adult life. This could be due to early hormonal and metabolic programming, during plastic periods in early life, influencing blood pressure levels in adult life
Late preterm birth and neurocognitive performance in late adulthood: a birth cohort study
No full textOBJECTIVES: We studied if late preterm birth (34 weeks 0 days–36 weeks 6 days of gestation) is associated with performance on the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB) in late adulthood and if maximum attained lifetime education moderated these associations.METHODS: Participants were 919 Finnish men and women born between 1934 and 1944, who participated in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. They underwent the CERAD-NB at a mean age of 68.1 years. Data regarding gestational age (late preterm versus term) were extracted from hospital birth records, and educational attainment data were gathered from Statistics Finland.RESULTS: After adjustment for major confounders, those born late preterm scored lower on word list recognition (mean difference: –0.33 SD; P = .03) than those born at term. Among those who had attained a basic or upper secondary education, late preterm birth was associated with lower scores on word list recognition, constructional praxis, constructional praxis recall, clock drawing, Mini–Mental State Examination, and memory total and CERAD total 2 compound scores (mean differences: >0.40 SD; P values <.05), and had a 2.70 times higher risk of mild cognitive impairment (Mini–Mental State Examination score: <26 points) (P = .02). Among those with tertiary levels of education, late preterm birth was not associated with CERAD-NB scores.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings offer new insight into the lifelong consequences of late preterm birth, and they add late preterm birth as a novel risk factor to the list of neurocognitive impairment in late adulthood. Our findings also suggest that attained lifetime education may mitigate aging-related neurocognitive impairment, especially among those born late preterm
Late-Preterm Birth and Lifetime Socioeconomic Attainments: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study
No full textOBJECTIVE: We examined if those born late-preterm (at 34 to 36 weeks of gestation) differed from those born at term in their maximum attained lifetime socioeconomic position (SEP) across the adult years up to 56 to 66 years, and in intergenerational social mobility from childhood parental SEP to own attained SEP.METHODS: Participants were 8993 Finnish men and women of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study born between 1934 and 1944. Gestational age was extracted from hospital birth records and socioeconomic attainments from Finnish National Census.RESULTS: Compared with those born at term, those born late-preterm were more likely to be manual workers, have a basic or upper secondary level of education, belong to the lowest third based on their incomes, and less likely to belong to the highest third based on their incomes. Late-preterm individuals were also less likely to be upwardly mobile and more likely to be downwardly mobile; they were less likely to have higher occupations and more likely to have lower occupations than their fathers. They were also less likely to be upwardly mobile if incomes were used as the outcome of own attained SEP, and men were more likely to be downwardly mobile if education was used as the outcome of own attained SEP.CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that there are considerable long-term socioeconomic disadvantages associated with late-preterm birth, which are not explained by the parent-of-origin SEP
Prenatal growth, postnatal growth and trait anxiety in late adulthood - the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study
No full textObjective: trait anxiety may predispose to anxiety disorders and cardiovascular events. We tested whether prenatal growth or postnatal growth from birth to 11 years of age and in adulthood predict trait anxiety in late adulthood.Method: women (n = 951) and men (n = 753) reported trait anxiety using the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale at an average age of 63.4 years and growth was estimated from records.Results: higher trait anxiety was predicted by smaller body size at birth, in infancy and in adulthood. Moreover, faster growth particularly from seven to 11 years of age and slower growth between 11 and 63 years predicted higher trait anxiety.Conclusion: we found a pattern of pre- and postnatal growth that predisposed to higher trait anxiety in late adulthood. This pattern resembles that found to increase the risk of cardiovascular events and, thus, points to a shared common origin in a suboptimal prenatal and childhood developmental milieu
Maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and self-reported cognitive impairment of the offspring 70 years later: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study
No full textWe tested whether maternal hypertensive disorders during pregnancy predict self-reported cognitive impairment, which is one of the earliest behavioral markers of dementia, of the offspring 70 years later. We included 876 participants of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study 1934-44 who were born after normotensive, preeclamptic, or hypertensive pregnancies that were defined by the use of the mother's blood pressure and urinary protein measurements at maternity clinics and birth hospitals. The participants completed a psychological questionnaire that included questions on cognitive failures and dysexecutive functioning at an average age of 69.3 ± 3.1 (SD) years. In comparison with the offspring who were born after normotensive pregnancies, the offspring who were born after preeclamptic pregnancies reported more frequent complaints of cognitive failures, distractibility, and false triggering. Further, among women we found maternal hypertension without proteinuria that was associated with more frequent complaints of cognitive failures, forgetfulness, and false triggering. Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are associated with more frequent subjective complaints of cognitive failures of the offspring in old age.<br/
Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in Finnish men and women separated temporarily from their parents in childhood--a life course study
No full textDepressive symptoms in adulthood and intrauterine exposure to pre-eclampsia: the Helsinki birth cohort study
No full textObjective: We studied whether pre-eclampsia predicts depressive symptoms in offspring.Design: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study.Setting: Participants in the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934–44 Study.Population: We classed 788 women and men born at term after a normotensive, hypertensive or pre-eclamptic pregnancy, by using the mother’s blood pressure and urinary protein measurements, at maternity clinics and birth hospitals.Methods: Linear and logistic regression analyses. We made adjustments for the mother’s age and body mass index (BMI) at delivery, the participant’s body size at birth/length of gestation, sex and childhood socio-economic status, age and educational attainment at testing.Main outcome measures: Beck depression inventory (BDI) scores completed twice, at the ages of 60 and 63 years.Result: Participants born after a primiparous pregnancy complicated by pre-eclampsia had over 30% (P < 0.04) higher depressive symptom scores in adulthood compared with those born after a primiparous normotensive pregnancy. We found no evidence of the association between pre-eclampsia and depression among participants born after multiparous pregnancies. Gestational hypertension and depressive symptoms were not significantly associated. The models adjusting for mother’s age and BMI at delivery, the participant’s body size at birth/length of gestation, sex, childhood socio-economic status, age and educational attainment at testing did not change the results.Conclusion: Pre-eclampsia is associated with later depressive symptoms in individuals born at term and after a primiparous pregnancy. These findings are compatible with the adverse fetal ‘programming’ by a suboptimal prenatal environment.<br/
Flow over partially liquid filled cavity
No full textExperiments have been carried out to investigate the effect of liquid cavity filling on the behavior of the gas flow over a flat plate cavity. PIV measurements in the gas phase reveal that cavity filling can affect vortex shedding in the cavity mouth. Shear layer vortices can break-up into smaller vortices, thereby losing their periodic interaction with the aft wall and, hence, their sound producing potential. Expected is that this is one of the mechanisms causing sound mitigation in corrugated pipes with liquid addition, observed in literature
ADOPTION OF A CHILD WITHOUT CONSENT OF ITS PARENT WITH A INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY : CASE OF A.K. AND L. v. CROATIA
No full textThis paper discusses the matter of parents prior right to provide his/her child with care in situations in which a child’s parent is a person with intellectual disabilities. The author analyzes the case of A.K. and L. v. Croatia in which European Court of Human Rights concluded that it come to violation of the right to family life of A.K, a mother with an intellectual disability and her son L., who was adopted without the mother’s consent. The paper presents a critical review of Croatian family law in a matter of a parent’s consent for an adoption when the parent is a person with intellectual disabilities. By connecting contemporary standpoints of the European Court of Human Rights and the latest scientific knowledge about the ability of persons with intellectual disabilities to take care of their child, the author discusses a possible conflict between the principle of child’s best interest and the priority right of a parent to take care of his/her child. Also, the author warns about the danger of a parent with intellectual disabilities being deprived of his/her parental rights and completely excluded from the process of adoption even in situations when the parent could, with adequate professional help and support, maintain a family relationship with the child. From that perspective the author also discusses the latest reforms of the family law concerning protection of parental rights of persons deprived of their capacity for work
Length of gestation and depressive symptoms at age 60 years
No full textBACKGROUND: A non-optimal foetal environment, reflected in smaller birth size and shorter duration of gestation, is a risk factor for compromised health later in life. AIMS: To examine whether smaller birth size and shorter gestation predict depressive symptoms. METHOD: A total of 1371 members of a cohort born between 1934 and 1944 at term (259-294 days'gestation) in Helsinki, Finland, completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D) at an average age of 61.5 years (BDI) and 63.4 years (BDI and CES-D). RESULTS: Gestational length predicted depressive symptoms linearly and independently of gender and birth weight: per day decrease in gestational length, depressive symptoms scores increased by 0.8-0.9% (95% CI 0.2-1.4, P<0.009). Weight, length and head circumference at birth showed no linear association with depression, adjusted for gender and gestational length. The results did not change when further controlled for socio-economic characteristics at birth and in adulthood, age and body mass index in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Susceptibility to depressive symptoms may relate to shorter length of gestation
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