D. Vagero et D. Leon, ISCHEMIC-HEART-DISEASE AND LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT - A TEST OF THE FETAL-ORIGINS HYPOTHESIS FROM THE SWEDISH-TWIN-REGISTRY, Lancet, 343(8892), 1994, pp. 260-263
Twins constitute a population with lower than average birth weight for
reasons that are not a consequence of social disadvantage. The hypoth
esis that ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is linked to low birth weight
was tested by analysing whether or not 8174 female and 6612 male Swedi
sh twins had a higher mortality compared to the general Swedish popula
tion. The association between adult body height and IHD mortality was
also analysed in a nested case-control study among monozygotic and diz
ygotic twins. Ischaemic heart disease mortality was not higher among t
wins (women: relative risk [RR] 0.99; 95% confidence limits [CL] 0.89-
1.10; men: RR 0.85; CL 0.79-0.92). However, the shorter twin in a twin
pair was more likely to die of heart disease than the taller (odds ra
tio [OR] 1.15, CL 1.03-1.25). We suggest that postnatal influences may
well be as important as prenatal influences in producing any effect o
n ischaemic heart disease mortality and that the type of growth retard
ation in utero experienced by twins may not constitute a risk for isch
aemic heart disease in adulthood.