Above Average Weight Gain in Infants Accelerates Arterial Stiffness in Young Adults

Above Average Weight Gain in Infants Accelerates Arterial Stiffness in Young Adults

If arterial walls stiffen, meaning a decrease of elasticity, the blood flows faster through the vessels as usual. As a consequence, the total circulation is overused; hence the risk for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure is growing.

The extent of arterial stiffness is rated based on the pulse wave velocity, meaning the speed with which the blood is expelled from the heart.

Recently, more and more young adults are affected from a high pulse wave velocity respectively from too early stiffening arteries.

Therefore scientists are looking for possibilities to stop or to reverse this negative trend. One decisive approach is to improve the diet in early infancy.

Study results in Bolivia show for example, that a disproportionate weight gain between the ages of two to four promoted the stiffening of the vessels in the age of 30 and increased the risk of early cardiovascular diseases. The birth weight, breastfeeding and body growth, however, remained without influence on the pulse wave velocity.

Read and see more:
C.A. Vianna et al. Pulse Wave Velocity at Early Adulthood: Breastfeeding and Nutrition during Pregnancy and Childhood. PLoS One. 2016 Apr 13; 11(4):e0152501. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152501. eCollection 2016.

Leave a Reply

By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies. Further Information

We use cookies. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you agree to this. You can delete our cookies. How this works is explained in our privacy policy.

Close