Tuesday, December 13, 2016

The Effect of Famine Crosses Generations in Vulnerability to Disease

The incidences of hyperglycemia and Type 2 diabetes were observed to increase in those who suffered through the famine and researchers discovered these afflictions increased in their progeny as well.  (Science Daily:  Famine alters metabolism for successive generations)

Regrettably, this one is only cheerful in resolution since it shows any relief for famine victims may need to extend fifteen or twenty years to ensure everyone who is or will be hurt by it is covered.  It's also an implicit statement regarding something which is not necessarily a famine but there's widespread levels of malnutrition in America.

Roll with the Socialism for a moment since we will assume the economy gets fixed by some magical process, equality is here for real, and people really do have the money they need to eat.  Those would be excellent to see but that won't complete the matter since the consequences will be coming back in terms of health.

- Insert lengthy editorial on everyone has a right to health care -


Public health researchers at Brown University and Harbin Medical University in China were able to make the findings by studying more than 3,000 local residents and their children. Some of the subjects were gestated during famine and some were gestated just afterward. Some of the studied offspring were born to two, one or no parents who had been famine-exposed.

- Science Daily

Hat tip to another of my ex-home towns since Brown University is in Providence, RI, and that's quite the happening school for hothead Eastern liberals but don't take that as denigrating the academic standards.  It's a well-recommended school.


Here's the punch:

Among 983 people gestated during the famine years, 31.2 percent had hyperglycemia and 11.2 percent had type 2 diabetes.  By comparison, among 1,085 people gestated just after the famine ended, the prevalence of hyperglycemia was 16.9 percent, and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes as 5.6 percent.  Controlling for factors such as gender, smoking, physical activity, calorie consumption and body-mass index, the researchers calculated that in utero famine exposure was associated with 1.93-times higher odds of hyperglycemia and a 1.75 times greater chance of type 2 diabetes.

- Science Daily


The researchers are aware of the limitations of the study:

Because the study only shows an association between metabolic changes and in utero famine exposure, it can't prove causality or the biological mechanism underlying a cause.  But prior research on the effects of famine in humans and in laboratory animals suggest that famine does indeed cause such health risks, the study authors said.

- Science Daily


While there may seem a vibe of doom and gloom, the optimism for us at the Rockhouse is this science happens at all.  That seems validly indicative of an interest to do something about it when you can't fix anything if you don't know a situation exists.

I can't go soft on presenting whatever I find because of the holidays and the season but nothing is presented for the sake of scaring or intimidating people with the horror, the horror.  We strongly believe any problem can be fixed if we face it straight-up and take it on honestly.

The blessing of the season isn't so much the superficial aspect of being glad of being spared by such things when there's a deeper one in seeing research will could possibly go toward fixing things and making them better.

No comments: