Slower fetal development may protect women from heart disease

We do not know why women have lower rates of coronary heart disease than men. Forsén et al (p 1403) studied a cohort of over 7000 men and women born in Helsinki and found that women who developed heart disease were short at birth whereas men who developed the disease were thin at birth. The authors suggest that these differences in body proportions at birth reflect intrinsic differences between the sexes in their responses to fetal undernutrition. Female fetuses are less vulnerable to undernutrition because they grow more slowly. The lower rates of coronary heart disease among women may therefore originate in their slower rates of growth in utero.


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Relevant Article

Growth in utero and during childhood among women who develop coronary heart disease: longitudinal study
T Forsén, J G Eriksson, J Tuomilehto, C Osmond, and D J P Barker
BMJ 1999 319: 1403-1407. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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