January 22, 2019

expert reaction to study in sheep on hypoxia in pregnancy, CVD in later life and treatment with vitamin C

Research published in PLOS Biology demonstrates that a greater focus on prevention rather than treatment is required to reduce the impact of heart disease.

Prof. Tim Chico, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, University of Sheffield, said:

“It is increasingly recognised that the environment within the womb influences not only the health of a baby during development and after birth, but can also increase the risk of a that baby developing heart disease in middle age or older. This study using sheep showed that reducing the oxygen supply to the baby (as seen in some pregnancies due to abnormal placenta formation or heart and lung disease in the mother) causes a range of abnormalities in the offspring that could be improved by vitamin C, which is an antioxidant.

“This is an interesting scientific finding, although we need further work to determine whether high dose vitamin C could help reduce the negative effects of low oxygen levels on human babies. It is very important to be aware that high dose vitamin supplements are not themselves without risk and a previous study has shown that high dose vitamin C may affect some babies’ growth. This means pregnant women definitely should not start taking very high dose vitamin C supplements based on this study. However, this study does add to a lot of other evidence supporting the importance of eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruit which is naturally high in vitamin C.”

‘Intervention against hypertension in the next generation programmed by developmental hypoxia’ by Kirsty Brain et al. was published in PLOS Biology at 19:00 UK time on Tuesday 22^nd January 2019.

Declared interests

Prof. Tim Chico: “No conflicts.”