(Ivanhoe Newswire ) -- Pregnant women have one more reason to be on the
alert about the swine flu. Researchers found babies exposed to a similar strain
of flu in utero during the 1918 pandemic were more likely to face a future of
heart disease.
A new study shows 100,000 individuals who were born during the 1918 influenza
pandemic and were affected by the H1N1 strain of influenza A while in the womb
had higher chances of heart disease later in life.
“Our point is that during pregnancy, even mild sickness from flu could affect
development with longer consequences," senior author Caleb Finch, University of
Southern California (USC) professor of gerontology and biological sciences, was
quoted as saying.
Researchers found men who were born during the height of the epidemic had a 23.1
percent greater chance of having heart disease after the age of 60 than the
United States population. Women in the study also showed a 17 percent increase
in likelihood of developing heart disease.
“Prenatal exposure to even uncomplicated maternal influenza can have lasting
consequences later in life," Eileen Crimmins, professor of gerontology and
sociology at USC, was quoted as saying. “The lingering influences from the 1918
to 1919 influenza pandemic extend the hypothesized roles of inflammation and
infections in cardiovascular disease from our prior Science and PNAS articles to
prenatal infection by influenza."
SOURCE: Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, October 1, 2009
