The
kind of food mothers eat has its role in determination of the sought of brain
their babies’ have at the end of order.
An
extract from the latest research of the University of Manchester and made
available to NaijaAgroNet, has
also shown that twins are more prone to diabetes.
Chief
Media Relations, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, Faculty of Life
Sciences
The University of Manchester, Mr. Aeron Haworth, stated in a press statement
that women who fall pregnant while dieting are more likely to have a child that
could become obese or diabetic in later life, new research suggests.
While
the study was carried out in sheep, he said, University of Manchester
scientists suspect the findings may hold true for humans as well.
According
to him, the research, carried out with colleagues in New Zealand and Canada,
may also have found a reason why human twins are more likely to develop type-2
diabetes in adulthood after the team studied twin lambs.
The
study investigated twin pregnancies in sheep, as well the pregnancies of ewes
that received less food around the time the lamb was conceived.
He
quoted the researchers as then looking at tissues from the brains of the unborn
lambs, stressing that this was to see if there were changes in the structure of
the DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA); the hereditary material in humans and almost
all other organisms that would alter genes involved in food intake and glucose
levels after birth.
Study
lead and professor of Endocrine Sciences, Prof. (Mrs) Anne White, was quoted as
saying that they found that unborn twin lambs had changes in the structure of
DNA in the region of the brain that regulates food intake and glucose that
resulted in an increased chance of diabetes in adulthood.
“Our
findings provide a reason why twins are more likely to get diabetes but we have
also shown that mothers who don’t have enough food around the time of
conception may have a child who grows up with an increased risk of obesity,”
she said.
Although
the study, published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology, was conducted in sheep, the researchers believe their
findings are relevant to humans too, as they reveal a non-genetic or
‘epigenetic’ way in which the DNA of offspring could be altered.
Professor
White of Manchester’s Faculties of Medical and Human Sciences and Life
Sciences, further said that this is not an inherited change in the genes but a
change in the structure of the DNA that affects the genes, and therefore much
more unusual.
“What
is significant is that the changes we have found are in genes that control food
intake and glucose levels and alterations in these genes may lead to obesity
and diabetes,” she said.
Additionally,
she said, more people are becoming obese and getting diabetes, while rates of
twins are steadily increasing as women have babies at older ages and rates of
conception using artificial reproductive technologies increase.
“Dieting
in young women is also very common and can occur in women who may not know they
are pregnant,” she said, adding that the team’s findings in sheep, if
replicated in humans, suggest that obesity and diabetes could be more likely in
twins and in children from mothers who are not eating properly or dieting
around the time of conception.
“Our
study is important because it shows that factors in the brain can be altered by
non-hereditary mechanisms and this results in changes in the body, which could
make people obese. The findings may provide a new understanding of why twins
can develop diabetes and also suggests that dieting around the time a baby is
conceived may increase the chance of the child becoming obese later in life,” she
submitted.
While
the study doesn’t have implications for the treatment of diabetes or obesity,
the researchers say it could be important for disease prevention regimes
whereby advice on eating is given to women who are planning a family that could
reduce future health risks for their children.
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