Nature is able to circumvent expectations and even reason, and science should not be blamed for underestimating that possibility, because cause and effect are not always blatantly obvious. Previously we mentioned a Netherlands study showing that “men who were still in the womb when their mothers experienced malnutrition tended to have children with a tendency to become overweight adults.”
In other words, the effect carries on into the third generation. Such weirdness can be explained by accepting that genes do not interact only with one another, but with such environmental factors as temperature, acidity, and nutrients, as well as elements that are not yet recognized.
War, separation from loved ones, and many other types of stress can cause a person’s physiology to change in ways that are heritable, while their genetics remain unchanged. In Greek, “epi” means over, on top of, or in addition to. In this case, it signifies that cell function can change in a way that will be stable and is heritable, while the DNA sequence remains unchanged. This happens because of the world around us, when “our environment influences our genes by changing the chemicals attached to them,” and sometimes because of choices we make such as “what we eat, our physical activity level, access to resources and more.”
All this implies that, since some characteristics are changeable, we are better off figuring out how to play a deliberate and purposeful role, rather than heedlessly accept whatever random experiments some corporation wants to perform on us, and especially in preference to letting things happen to us through our own neglect. Sadly, depending on one’s gender, age, parental status, state of health, and many other factors, the average grownup does not like to think too much about this whole subject.
What moms do matters
Many women like to learn about the best veggies to eat while pregnant, but very few would enjoy an in-depth analysis of how their habits during and even before pregnancy quite possibly messed up the lives of their existing children. Guilt alone is oppressive enough, but guilt for something that can never be taken back or corrected is a potentially catastrophic burden. For a mother in that position, blame can come from three directions: herself, the child, and the biological father. If the child is born with, for instance, a problem that her smoking habit probably caused, there is the recipe for a lifetime of misery.
With maternal smoking alone, possible consequences include miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, placental abruption, placenta previa, low birth weight, and increased risk of defects like cleft lip and cleft palate. The fetus might not get enough oxygen, and lung problems are a possibility. There could be abnormal bleeding during pregnancy or delivery. Even after a seemingly successful delivery, the chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is increased.
It transcends the personal
There is another problem. The entire health insurance industry is already a nightmare for patients and families to deal with. When a baby shows up with medical problems, a thorough study of all the epigenetic possibilities could cause a horrific situation. If detectives were to compile cases against mothers who, for instance, smoked cigarettes while pregnant, this could lead to, among other consequences, court battles capable of consuming fortunes and lifetimes.
What about childhood obesity, and a mother’s liability if her child turns out to be dangerously obese? A report titled “The Effect of Maternal Overweight and Obesity Pre-Pregnancy and During Childhood in the Development of Obesity in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review” examined 11 studies on the subject. Some looked at maternal overweight or obesity before conception, and found “consistent positive associations with childhood obesity,” while others reported “positive associations between childhood obesity and maternal overweight/obesity during childhood.” The paper goes on to say,
This review has confirmed the multifactorial etiology of childhood obesity, indicating that maternal overweight and obesity has an important role in the development of childhood obesity, regardless of its occurrence (i.e., before the child’s conception or during childhood).
Still, the book we discussed, Genetics and Obesity, named factors that can overrule the gene pool and cause positive deviations. Bariatric surgery affects micro-RNA and can cause epigenetic changes. A staunchly maintained exercise schedule “can cause widespread changes in DNA methylation.” So can fasting.
And if positive epigenetic modification is what we want, it can be obtained with prebiotics and probiotics and even with fecal transplants to build up and perk up the gut microbiome. In other words, a conscientious prospective mother can plan ahead, and quit smoking or lose weight or otherwise “clean up her act” and provide a safe and welcoming womb for a fetus to inhabit.
(To be continued…)
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Epigenetics,” ClevelandClinic.org, undated
Source: “Genetics and Obesity,” NIH.gov, 07/31/23
Source: “Smoking During Pregnancy,” WebMD.com, 10/04/24
Source: “The Effect of Maternal Overweight and Obesity Pre-Pregnancy and During Childhood in the Development of Obesity in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review,” NIH.gov, 12/02/22
Image by The 5th Ape/Attribution 2.0 Generic
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