| Popis: |
The paper reviews epidemiological studies published since 1989, not including ecological studies and addressing the relationship between the fetal environment and component elements of the chronic insulin resistance syndrome (syndrome X). Thirty papers have been recorded. Birth weight associated or not with other perinatal characteristics are studied in 24 articles. A relationship with further occurrence of hypertension (17 papers), dyslipemia (3), non insulin-dependent diabetes or altered glucose tolerance (8), or of a combination of these disorders (2), has been sought for. A negative relationship between birth weight and these disorders is found in adults, inconstantly in children. Some findings support a mechanism implying nutritional condition during pregnancy. Methodology inaccuracies jeopardize the validity of the conclusions drawn. The interpretation of a causal relationship between fetal environment and insulin resistance is compared to alternative assumptions relating to genetic mechanisms or selection biases. |
