A Life Course Approach to the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and Ageing

by Kuh, Diana; Susser, Ezra; Blodgett, Joanna M.; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav

• ISBN13: 9780198895961
• ISBN10: 0198895968
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-06-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A Life Course Approach to the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and Ageing, Third Edition outlines how biological and social factors during gestation, childhood, adolescence and earlier adult life influence later life health and disease. It also looks at whether and how to intervene to improve health outcomes.

This revised third edition is fully updated to reflect the new data that has emerged as well as our new understanding of health and global challenges. It brings new chapters on a life course approach to the long-term health consequences of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the current and potential use of new technologies, methods and collaborative approaches in life course studies and provides updated reviews of the latest life course evidence for age-related chronic diseases. It discusses how life course research is being used, and could be used, to improve population health in high, middle, and low-income countries, identifying how and when interventions may be most effective. New chapters on multimorbidity, translational geroscience and exposomics have also been added.

Author Biography

Diana Kuh, Emeritus Professor of Life Course Epidemiology, University College London, London, UK,Ezra Susser, Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Joanna M. Blodgett, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Sport Exercise and Health Department of Targeted Intervention, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK,Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Diana Kuh, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Life Course Epidemiology at UCL, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Public Health in the UK. Diana established and directed the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing (LHA) at UCL between 2008 and 2017 and directed the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the world's oldest continually followed birth cohort study that began in 1946. Diana created and advanced the field of life course epidemiology which studies how biological, psychological, and social factors across life affect adult health, ageing and chronic disease risk. In over 500 publications, Diana used data from NSHD and other cohort studies to show the influence of childhood development, prior health, and lifetime lifestyle and socioeconomic factors on musculoskeletal, cardiometabolic, cognitive and reproductive function and survival.

Ezra Susser, M.D., Dr.P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute. As a psychiatric epidemiologist with a life course perspective, he has a wide range of work, including for example genomics, epigenetics, and social determinants of neurodevelopmental disorders. He has a special interest in the most marginalized populations, such as people who have severe mental disorders and/or are homeless. This pertains to his local work in New York City, as well as to his extensive research in less wealthy countries across several regions of the globe.

Joanna M. Blodgett, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health in the Division of Surgery & Interventional Science at UCL in the United Kingdom. Originally from Canada, Jo is a life course epidemiologist whose primary research areas encompass ageing, physical activity, cohort studies, and women's health. She is particularly interested in the intersection of physical activity and women's health, from both population health and elite athlete perspectives.

Yoav Ben-Shlomo, is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, having graduated in Medicine with an intercalated BSc in Human Psychology. He is internationally known for his work on life course epidemiology both at a conceptual as well as empirical level. He played a key role on studies as the Barry Caerphilly Growth study, The Hyderabad Nutrition trial and Christs Hospital School looking at early life exposures. He is also known in the field of neuroepidemiology, (e.g. Parkinson's disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis) and physical and cognitive ageing. He is the epidemiological lead for two large PD natural history cohorts as well as several PD trials (CHIEF-PD, PRIME-UK, PD-STRIPE). He advised the UK Department of health on disease modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis. He is a member of the Alzheimer's Society Scientific Advisory as well as the Alzheimer's Disease strategy board.

Table of Contents

SECTION I. Opportunities and challenges for life course epidemiology in the 2020s1. Introduction to the third edition, Diana Kuh, Joanna M. Blodgett, Mark Hanson, Ezra Susser, and Yoav Ben-Shlomo2. A life course approach to health in the age of pandemics, Diana Kuh, Joanna M. Blodgett, W. Ian Lipkin, and Ezra Susser3. The value of a life course approach to the health consequences of climate change, Elisabeth M. Simonin, Sotheany Leap, Ellie S. Klibaner-Schiff, Sarah Kirsh, Olivia Kline, Hannah Matthews, Nicholas Vogler, Claire Kepner, Vanitha Sampath, Mary M. Johnson, and Kari C. Nadeau4. Capturing exposures from childhood to adulthood with exposomics, Oliver Robinson, Paolo Vineis, and Giovanni Fiorito5. New analytical approaches to life course analyses, Claudia Börnhorst, Marvin N. Wright, and Vanessa Didelez6. Maximizing the value of life course studies, Nicholas J. Timpson and Claire StevesSECTION II. Life course epidemiology for chronic diseases and ageing7. A life course approach to cancer, Lauren C. Houghton, Michelle Lui, and Mary Beth Terry8. A life course approach to cardiovascular disease, Linda O'Keefe, Gita D. Mishra, and Rebecca Hardy9. A life course approach to obesity and diabetes, Wei Perng, Izzuddin M. Aris, Jill Norris, and Dana Dabelea10. A life course approach to lung function and respiratory disease, James P. Allinson and Peter Lange11. A life course approach to neurodegeneration, Sarah-Naomi James, Jonathan M. Schott, and Yoav Ben-Shlomo12. A life course approach to mental health and well-being, Katherine M. Keyes and Gonzalo Martínez-Alés13. A life course approach to multimorbidity and healthy ageing, Anne B. Newman and Rachel Cooper14. Translational geroscience: A life course perspective, Daniel W. Belsky, David M. Wilson III, and Luigi FerrucciSECTION III. Implications of a life course approach for policy and interventions15. Influencing policies for public health interventions using a life course perspective focusing on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), Mark Hanson, Chandni Maria Jacob, and Keith Godfrey16. Expected impact of interventions to increase fetal and infant growth, K.S. Joseph and Michael S. Kramer17. Employing life course epidemiology to catalyze larger impacts of early child policies on lifelong health, Natalie Slopen and Jack P. Shonkoff18. A life course approach to the development of health behaviours, Joanna M. Blodgett, Gregore Iven Mielke, and Eleanor Winpenny19. Chronic disease and ageing: A life course approach to policy and interventions in lower income countries, Caroline Fall, Ryan G. Wagner, Shane Norris, and Stephen Tollman20. A life course approach to promoting healthy longevity, John R. Beard, Yuan Zhang, and Allison E. AielloSECTION IV. Conclusions21. Challenges, priorities, and future directions for life course epidemiology, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Joanna M. Blodgett, Ezra Susser, and Diana Kuh