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Early Life: Epigenetic Effects on Obesity, Diabetes, and Cancer

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Epigenetics, Energy Balance, and Cancer

Part of the book series: Energy Balance and Cancer ((EBAC,volume 11))

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Abstract

Abnormal intrauterine growth and other adverse early-life exposures may induce adaptations that in turn predispose the individual to chronic diseases later in life. This type of adaptation may be marked by changes in systems, organs, and tissues. The immediate benefits of early plasticity or adaptability may come at a cost with repercussions, such as increased susceptibility to diabetes, cardiovascular and other age-related diseases, as well as cancer, manifesting in adulthood. Some fetal adaptations may not necessarily be apparent at birth, but may be revealed later in life when invoked by cumulative environmental challenges (e.g., high fat or westernized diet). Early life exposures may represent the advancement of the normal decline of resistance to disease that occurs with aging. Developmental origin of adult disease may be viewed in the same framework of other progressive disorders defined by increasing epigenetic dysregulation, such as cancer and as such may have identifiable biomarkers. Assays that measure epigenetic changes hold great promise as biomarkers for disease states in which risk can be attributable to gene–environment interactions.

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  1. Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Francine Hughes Einstein M.D.

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  1. Francine Hughes Einstein M.D.
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  1. Center for Science, Health & Society, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Nathan A. Berger

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Einstein, F.H. (2016). Early Life: Epigenetic Effects on Obesity, Diabetes, and Cancer. In: Berger, N. (eds) Epigenetics, Energy Balance, and Cancer. Energy Balance and Cancer, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41610-6_3

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