Fetal and pediatric origins of adult cardiovascular disease.

Adult-onset cardiovascular disease has its origin in childhood. During the past year there have been a number of articles that have dealt with the effects of fetal nutrition on the development of cardiovascular disease in adult life, identification of the child at high risk for the development of essential hypertension, the effects of passive smoking as a risk factor for coronary artery disease, and strategies for diagnosis and treatment for familial hypercholesterolemia. Two of the most important observations over the past year are that there appears to be a significant relationship between fetal and early childhood nutrition and the risk of developing many of the cardiovascular diseases seen in adult individuals and that environmental tobacco smoking, including smoke at work, results in an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease.