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Born in a cold climate, heart disease later
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a study of older women, a cold outdoor
temperature at the time they were born was associated with an increased
risk of heart disease later in life.
The findings, which are reported in the medical journal Heart,
stem from a study of 4286 women, between 60 and 79 years of age,
who were randomly selected from general physician lists in 23 British
towns.
The women were asked about their location of birth and whether
this was also their current residence. Archive weather data were
then analyzed to determine the outdoor temperature at the time of
birth.
Women born during the coldest temperatures were 24 percent more
likely than other women to develop heart disease, lead author Dr.
D. A. Lawlor, from the University of Bristol in the UK, and colleagues
note.
In addition, cold temperatures at birth were linked to insulin
problems, high triglyceride levels, and decreased lung function.
Even after accounting for a variety of known heart disease risk
factors, cold temperature at birth was still tied to an increased
risk of heart disease. However, further analysis revealed that the
association was not present in subjects from a non-manual social
class during childhood.
"Our findings have some consistency with the theory that exposure
to cold temperatures around the time of birth leads to increased
fat storage and insulin resistance, and thence to coronary heart
disease in later life," the researchers note.
Further studies are needed to determine whether the observed findings
reflect "events occurring late in the third trimester of (pregnancy)
or early in the postnatal period," they add.
SOURCE: Heart, April 2004.
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