Women AND men’s health prior to conception affects offspring | Elissa Epel
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Experts have long known that a woman's physical and emotional health during pregnancy play important roles in her offspring's health. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that pre-pregnancy health of both parents shapes the health of their offspring through epigenetic mechanisms, which are influenced by nutrition, stress, and other environmental factors. In this clip, Dr. Elissa Epel describes how pre-pregnancy parental health impacts offspring.
Rhonda: So if you have a female who has, let's say, a poor diet, she drinks these sugar-sweetened beverages, for example, or a mother who's got some sort of chronic stress that she's under, for whatever reason, maybe she a caregiver, a parent with Alzheimer's disease. And so either of these cases, you know, before she gets pregnant, she's exposed to these types of bad stress. Now, let's say during pregnancy, she cuts out the sugar-sweetened beverages, you know, does that impact the telomeres of the offspring? Or is there something that goes on during pregnancy?
Elissa: So I love these questions and we absolutely should know the answers because what happens during pregnancy and how the aging clocks are set, the epigenetic clock, telomere length, the immune system, how much it's prime for inflammation, those are so important at birth. Those are trajectories that have set up that baby for the rest of their life. These are lasting imprints, so we don't know. I'll tell you what we do know. So we do know that stress during pregnancy is associated with shorter telomeres at birth in the cord blood. So that one has become...
Rhonda: What kind of stress during pregnancy?
Elissa: So that one has been measured in a couple different ways. So I think the life events are the kind of easiest thing to measure rather than the feelings of stress. So bad things that happen, job loss, mourning, victimization, financial events, so when you add those up during pregnancy, they predict shorter telomeres. But also it's been studied in the year before birth and that predicts shorter telomeres in cord blood.
So here's what I think. I think your point about is it before pregnancy and the health that they came into pregnancy with, I think that is so much of what's happening for women and men. So it is the health of sperm and the health of eggs in pre-pregnancy that is partly shaping health through epigenetics. And so now that we know that there's, you know, important epigenetics the dad is passing on too, we've got to pay attention to the health of the mom and the dad before they conceive. I mean, of course throughout their life but I think the health of sperm and eggs are critical before you get pregnant.
Rhonda: It's a really important point that most people of reproductive age do not think about, particularly those that have unhealthy lifestyles. Because, you know, it's one thing to kind of sort of give up on your own. You're like, well, whatever, you know, it's my life. But when you start to think about your unborn child, I think people become a little more...
Elissa: Oh, so motivated.
Rhonda: Motivated.
Elissa: So you with your immense knowledge on aging, what did you change when you got pregnant? Did you and your husband do anything differently?
Rhonda: We've been really focused on good nutrition and good lifestyle for quite some time. But, you know, we certainly were very, you know, focused on making sure we're getting lots of micronutrients, getting enough protein, getting omega-3 fatty acids. I mean, that was a big one. Exercise and definitely the stress, keeping the stress low.
A neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive memory loss, spatial disorientation, cognitive dysfunction, and behavioral changes. The pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease include amyloid-beta plaques, tau tangles, and reduced brain glucose uptake. Most cases of Alzheimer's disease do not run in families and are described as "sporadic." The primary risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease is aging, with prevalence roughly doubling every five years after age 65. Roughly one-third of people aged 85 and older have Alzheimer's. The major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's is a variant in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene called APOE4.
Emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period over which an individual perceives he or she has no control. It involves an endocrine system response in which occurs a release of corticosteroids.
A gene encoding a transcription factor (CLOCK) that affects both the persistence and period of circadian rhythms. CLOCK functions as an essential activator of downstream elements in the pathway critical to the generation of circadian rhythms. In humans, polymorphisms in the CLOCK gene have been associated with increased insomnia, weight loss difficulty, and recurrence of major depressive episodes in patients with bipolar disorder.
A biomarker of aging based on alterations in an organism’s DNA methylation (DNAm) profile. Methylations occur naturally and regulate gene expression. With age, the methylation state of a gene may change. These changes are quantifiable, serving as a means to gauge biological age, which is often different from chronological age. Several variations of epigenetic clocks have been identified. They are generally categorized according to the type and number of tissues used to formulate the calculation, as well as the type of age measured (e.g., epigenetic versus phenotypic). The most widely used clocks include: - HorvathAge, which predicts intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration, a phenomenon in which an organism's aging is influenced by internal physiological factors such as normal metabolism and genetics.[1] - DNAm PhenoAge, which predicts time-to-death among people of the same chronological age, based on biomarkers of age-related disease.[2] - DNAm GrimAge, which predicts lifespan and healthspan, based on DNAm surrogates in blood, including biomarkers of aging and alterations in blood composition.[3]
Genetic control elicited by factors other than modification of the genetic code found in the sequence of DNA. Epigenetic changes determine which genes are being expressed, which in turn may influence disease risk. Some epigenetic changes are heritable.
A molecule composed of carboxylic acid with a long hydrocarbon chain that is either saturated or unsaturated. Fatty acids are important components of cell membranes and are key sources of fuel because they yield large quantities of ATP when metabolized. Most cells can use either glucose or fatty acids for this purpose.
A critical element of the body’s immune response. Inflammation occurs when the body is exposed to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a protective response that involves immune cells, cell-signaling proteins, and pro-inflammatory factors. Acute inflammation occurs after minor injuries or infections and is characterized by local redness, swelling, or fever. Chronic inflammation occurs on the cellular level in response to toxins or other stressors and is often “invisible.” It plays a key role in the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Vitamins and minerals that are required by organisms throughout life in small quantities to orchestrate a range of physiological functions. The term micronutrients encompasses vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids.
A type of polyunsaturated fat that is essential for human health. Omega-3 fatty acids influence cell membrane integrity and affect the function of membrane-bound cellular receptors. They participate in pathways involved in the biosynthesis of hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. They have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis, and may play protective roles in cancer and other conditions. Omega-3 fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils such as flaxseed, soybean, and canola oils. DHA and EPA are found in fish and other seafood. The human body can convert some ALA into EPA and then to DHA, but the efficiency of the process varies between individuals.
Distinctive structures comprised of short, repetitive sequences of DNA located on the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres form a protective “cap” – a sort of disposable buffer that gradually shortens with age – that prevents chromosomes from losing genes or sticking to other chromosomes during cell division. When the telomeres on a cell’s chromosomes get too short, the chromosome reaches a “critical length,” and the cell stops dividing (senescence) or dies (apoptosis). Telomeres are replenished by the enzyme telomerase, a reverse transcriptase.
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