Week 10 Post 2

 William Blake once said "Man brings all that he has or can have into the world with him. Man is born like a garden ready planted and sown". It is this that remains the phenomena of the developmental origins of health and disease. A person rarely adds something new to their body but, instead, modifies a gene purpose. Most of these gene expression decisions come within the first 1000 days of life. Not, when a person is twenty-five and decides they want to start a miracle diet. So, America's health may just be better if we lay our focus on enhancing the health of pregnant mothers and follow-up after infancy. That is not to say that staying healthy throughout the rest of ones life is not important, but to be brought into this world with a foundation of low-stress and a healthy diet can dramatically decrease a person's predisposed risk to conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Dr. David Barker, an English epidemiologist, was determined to figure out why men in poorer regions of England were experiencing significantly higher rates of heart disease. At the time, cardiovascular disease was thought to be a condition of affluence and wealth. Many were confused about this recent development, but none more than Dr. David Barker. So, he set. out to discover the cause. The doctor believed he was on to something when he found that heart disease was higher in places that had higher infant mortality rates. As he published his finding, he received hatred and disdain from the medical community. Many set about trying to prove his findings incorrect. But, they could not. 

Dr. Barker and statistician, Clyde Osmond observed a 50-year time period. The quest to find the cause of this medical mystery was no easy task. Barely any accurate medical documents had been kept over the last fifty years and it seemed there would be no appropriate start to the research.  Until, the notes of Ethen Margaret were recovered. At the turn of the 20th century, Ethel Margaret was hired due to Great Britains growing concern about the high infant mortality rate and general bad health of the population. At the time, 1/10 infants would not survive to their first birthday. Furthermore, 2/3 of the young men who volunteered for the Boer War were rejected due to concerns of general bad health. Ethel Margaret was a midwife and became the foundation of many modern medical discoveries. E. Margaret required her hired midwives to keep strict notes. The midwife would weigh the baby at birth and remain an important part of its life for the first year--documenting health problems, developmental concerns, and any other data that felt relevant to the babies overall wellbeing. These notes are reported to be extremely personal, detailing the lives of the parents, even. These notes are now referred to as the "Hertfordshire Records". Each on elf them has detailed birth and infancy weight and health. Margaret turned the records over to the county when the infants turned one to stay as general records. They collected dust for fifty years before Barker got his hands on them. Once Barker and Osmond had them, the project could finally begin. The two set out tracking down as many of the Hertfordshire babies as they could. One of them was Barker's sister, seeing as they fled to the countryside during World War 2. Once they had found a large number, many volunteered to be part of their study. The results confirmed a link between less than ideal environment en utero, a low birth weight, and an increase risk of heart disease during adult life. 

Many studies have since been done to further conclude his work to be true. And although this is proven fact, America seems to pay no mind. In fact, one could argue that the general public does not even know this to be true. Most subscribe to the belief system that chronic illness is caused by bad diet and poor nutrition, when in fact, a persons risk depends heavily on the health patterns of their mothers, grandmothers, and beyond while they were being formed in the uterus. The risk even has to do with the way a person's organs develop. This is another way that children have very limited control over their own health. Perhaps, Des Moines Public Schools could enact a program to help new and expecting mothers, or act in partnership with a local organization. Although, there would need to be a way to mitigate cost. If more expectant mothers and new mothers new the particular risk of high-stress and poor diet, they may feel more initiative to feed themselves and their children more nutritious options. As always, education is empowerment.