Main description:

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the field of developmental programming of ageing phenotypes. Although gerontological research has traditionally focused on later stages of the life cycle, growing evidence indicates that both the rate of ageing-associated functional declines, and the risks of later-life chronic pathological conditions, can be traced to origins early in life.

While other books in the field concentrate on the developmental origin of particular disorders, this volume offers a detailed guide to all important aspects of the role of early-life conditions in programming both chronic pathological conditions and the ageing process.

Interest in the study of ageing and longevity had its beginnings in research on the fetal origins of adult disease. This has evolved into a hypothesis on the Developmental Origins of Adult Health and Disease (DOHaD), which postulates that adverse environmental exposures during critical in-utero and early postnatal stages of development may permanently change physiological responses and cause functional impairments and disorders in adult life.

In this book, the contributing authors and leading experts from around the world, describe research on mechanisms underlying the developmental programming phenomenon, as well as interventional strategies aimed at restoring developmentally disrupted epigenetic patterns.

Early Life Origins of Ageing and Longevity benefits a wide audience of working scientists, clinicians, and advanced students, and will also interest scientifically curious general readers who wish to know more about current research in this rapidly evolving field.

Contents:

Preface

SECTION I. OVERVIEW
1. Epidemiology of Early Nutrition and Adult Health: Metabolic Adaptations and Body Composition

2. General Biology of the Developmental Origins of Health

SECTION II. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DOHAD
3. Early Life Programming of Aging in Genetically Long-Lived Mice
4. Immunological Basis of In Utero Programming of Adult Disease
5. Early Life Developmental Programming of the GH/IGF Axis and Long-Term Health
6. Early Life Nutritional Programming of Adult Health Status
7. The Interplay between Dopamine and Environment as the Biological Basis for the Early Origins of Mental Health
8. The Developmental Origins of Osteoporosis

9. Nutrigenomics as a Strategy for Neuronal Health

SECTION III. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
10. Prenatal Undernutrition and Ageing and Longevity
'11. Influence of Maternal Obesity on the Long-Term Health of Offspring
12. Prenatal Exposure to Famine and Ageing
13. Why is Parental Lifespan Linked to Children's Chances of Reaching a High Age? A Transgenerational Hypothesis
14. Early-Life Adjustment of Epigenetic Aging Clock

SECTION IV. PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS
15. Public Health and Social Policy Perspectives on DOHaD

Index