IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nas/journl/v119y2022pe2208530119.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In utero exposure to the Great Depression is reflected in late-life epigenetic aging signatures

Author

Listed:
  • Lauren L. Schmitz

    (a Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706;)

  • Valentina Duque

    (b School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, D.C. 20016)

Abstract

Causal research on maternal-fetal epigenetic programming in humans is rare and has been hampered by a lack of data that connects early-life maternal insults to offspring health across the life course. This study examines whether early-life exposure to adverse economic conditions during the Great Depression—the worst economic downturn in US history—impacted how fast individuals aged biologically decades later according to their epigenetic aging profiles. Using a quasi-experimental strategy, results show that faster epigenetic aging later in life is associated with worse economic conditions during the prenatal period specifically, suggesting it may be a sensitive window for the development of later-life disparities in aging. As a result, early-life investments may help postpone age-related morbidity and mortality and extend healthy life span.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauren L. Schmitz & Valentina Duque, 2022. "In utero exposure to the Great Depression is reflected in late-life epigenetic aging signatures," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(46), pages 2208530119-, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:119:y:2022:p:e2208530119
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.pnas.org/content/119/46/e2208530119.full
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jacks, David S. & Pendakur, Krishna & Shigeoka, Hitoshi & Wray, Anthony, 2024. "Later-life mortality and the repeal of federal prohibition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    2. van Dijk, Ingrid K. & Nilsson, Therese & Quaranta, Luciana, 2024. "Disease exposure in infancy affects women's reproductive outcomes and offspring health in southern Sweden 1905–2000," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:119:y:2022:p:e2208530119. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: PNAS Product Team (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.pnas.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.