Hunger Winter: Famine and The Foetal Origins of Disease

Between the end of 1944 and may of 1945, the Third Reich imposed a devastating embargo on food into the German Occupied Netherlands. The resulting famine killed around 18,000 people. I have been talking to Dr Mandy Drake about how studies on the victims, in particular those who were exposed to the famine whilst in the womb, have given scientists a great insight into the importance of early foetal experiences on health in later life. The Dutch Famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_famine_of_1944–45 Dutch Famine Cohort Study https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/36/6/1196/814573/Cohort-Profile-The-Dutch-Hunger-Winter-Families The Barker Hypothesis Further reading: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7613432 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17444880 A reasonable article on the basics of epigenetics: https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/apr/25/epigenetics-beginners-guide-to-everything A good videoon molecular machines by Veritasium: https://youtu.be/X_tYrnv_o6A More about Dr Drake and her research: http://www.crh.ed.ac.uk/clah/dr-amanda-drake/

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