The results suggest that babies born at high altitude are deprived of2 oxygen before birth. “This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child.3 ‘‘ says Giussani.
His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies4. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to the rest of the body5.
Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood, for example. Low birthweight is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life.
词汇:
altitude /’?lt?tju?d/ n.纬度,(海拔)高度
birthweight /’b?:θ,weit/n. 出生体重
underweight /?nd?’we?t/ adj.体重不足的
hormone /’h??m??n/n. 荷尔蒙
stroke /str??k/ n.中风
coronary /’k?r(?)n(?)r?/ adj. 冠状的
hint /h?nt/ vt.暗示
fetus /’fi?t?s/n. 胚胎
under-nourished/’?nd? ’n?r??t/ adj.营养不足的
注释:
1.These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes.这些婴儿长大成人后得心脏病和中风的风险很大。