By Alexandra Thompson Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline
Published: 19:00 GMT, 22 January 2019 | Updated: 23:06 GMT, 22 January 2019
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Heart disease may begin in the womb, research suggests.
A study by Cambridge University found that adults who suffered chronic hypoxia - low oxygen - in the womb are more likely to show red flags for the condition, like high blood pressure or stiff arteries.
Chronic hypoxia is the most common side effect of pregnancy complications, such as pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes or just the expectant mother smoking.
Heart disease may begin in the womb if you have low oxygen levels, research suggests (stock)
The study was led by Professor Dino Giussani, from the department of physiology, development and neuroscience.
Heart disease kills one in three people, the scientists wrote in the journal PLOS Biology.
It is widely accepted that our genes interact with our lifestyle habits - such as obesity and smoking - to determine our heart disease risk.
But the new study - partly funded by The British Heart Foundation - shows this risk may be set out before we are even born.
To determine if this risk can be offset, the researchers gave pregnant sheep vitamin C while placing them in reduced-oxygen chambers for their last trimesters.
Vitamin C helps to thin the blood, reducing blood pressure.
'Sheep and humans share similar development milestones in cardiovascular anatomy and physiology,' the authors wrote.
At nine months old, the sheep's offsprings' heart functions were compared against lambs delivered from normal pregnancies.
Results suggested low oxygen restricted the lambs' growth and caused 'internal stress'.
