Environmental and Genetic Origins of Hypertension: a life course perspective

The complicated etiology of hypertension is still not fully understood. By leveraging multiple data sources from the Netherlands and other countries, we investigated the influence of environmental and genetic factors on blood pressure from the perinatal period, to childhood and adolescence and into adulthood. The findings in this thesis provide insights into environmental and genetic influences on BP across the lifespan and thus may benefit early prevention of hypertension. First, early determinants including higher maternal prepregnancy BMI, maternal hypertension, relatively lower birth weight for gestational age, shorter gestational age, limited duration of breastfeeding, and more rapid early BMI gain are all related to higher childhood BP. Second, spouses show similarities for BP and hypertension in diverse populations. Third, adult-based genetic risk scores can predict BP levels and trajectories at an early age. Finally, larger GWASs in children and adults will help to identify more BP genes and develop more precise genetic predictors.