How does our childhood affect our hearts in old age?

MyoFit46: multi-morbidity life-course approach to myocardial health – a cardiac sub-study of the MRC national survey of health and development (NSHD)

Researchers are adding vital new data to a long-running study revealing how individual circumstances impact our lifelong heart health. In 1946, over 5,000 parents enrolled their new babies in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development. The study has followed these infants throughout their lives, making discoveries along the way of how social, economic and environmental factors in early life affect health, wellbeing and attainment. Now, with the surviving participants in older age, the study can tell us how our childhood circumstances combine with factors in adulthood, to impact our health in later life. In this sub-study the researchers will use the sophisticated MRI imaging to capture highly detailed pictures and videos of heart function and blood flow in around 500 of the participants. Powerful computational analysis will look for relationships between the volunteers’ current heart health and the other data collected by the study over seven decades. Adding sophisticated heart mapping into this important national study will be extremely valuable in helping to piece together how our hearts can be protected through our lives. For instance, it could show up if childhood infections and exposure to pollution have long-lasting effects. This could have important implications for lifestyle, environmental and vaccination policies, and will help doctors take better care of the hearts of older people.