Nutritional conditions in early life and risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) from the perspective of preemptive medicine in perinatal care

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are chronic diseases that are non-infectious and non-transmissible. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies cardiovascular disorders (myocardial infarction or stroke), diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and malignancy as the four major disease types of NCDs. Evidence supporting the influence of various environmental factors in the early developmental period on the risk of developing NCDs in adults has increased recently, leading to the proposal of the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) theory. We reviewed the background of the paradoxical circumstances in which the morbidity of NCDs has rapidly increased in both developing and developed countries in view of distinct prenatal nutritional environments in the context of the DOHaD theory. We also discuss candidates for early interventions and biological samples for identifying biological markers in individuals at high risk of NCDs from the perspective of preemptive medicine in perinatal care.