The retrospective cohort studies of David Barker and colleagues during the late 1980s
established the principle that the incidence of certain adult diseases such as stroke, type 2
diabetes and dyslipidaemia may be linked to in utero development. Later termed the
“Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)” hypothesis, there have been
several more recent attempts to explain this phenomenon. Although a general conceptual
framework has been established to explain how mechanisms may have evolved to facilitate …