About
353
Publications
46,040
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
20,120
Citations
Publications
Publications (353)
People commonly face adverse circumstances throughout life, which increases risk for psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Adversities may occur during different periods in life. Especially adversity during early periods has been suggested to put individuals at risk for adverse ment...
Study question
Does elementary school performance differ between children conceived through assisted reproductive technology (ART) compared to children born to subfertile couples not conceived by ART?
Summary answer
Children born after ART perform equally well at age 12 (end of elementary school) compared to children born to subfertile couples not...
Background: Exposure to adversity in utero is thought to increase susceptibility to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following later life trauma, due to neurobiological programming effects during critical developmental periods. It remains unknown whether effects of prenatal adversity on PTSD susceptibility are modulated by genetic varia...
Background:
Gestational age is positively associated with cognitive development, but socio-demographic factors also influence school performance. Previous studies suggested possible interaction, putting children with low socio-economic status (SES) at increased risk of the negative effects of prematurity.
Objectives:
To investigate the associati...
STUDY QUESTION
Do children, adolescents, and young adults born after ART, including IVF, ICSI and frozen–thawed embryo transfer (FET), have an increased risk of cancer compared with children born to subfertile couples not conceived by ART and children from the general population?
SUMMARY ANSWER
After a median follow-up of 18 years, the overall can...
Purpose
Prenatal factors such as maternal stress, infection and nutrition affect fetal brain development and may also influence later risk for dementia. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide an overview of all studies which investigated the association between prenatal factors and later risk for dementia.
Methods
We systematically s...
Cancer and its treatments cause significant changes in sexuality that affect the quality of life of both patients and their partners. As these issues are not always discussed with healthcare professionals, cancer patients turn to online health communities to find answers to questions or for emotional support pertaining to sexual issues. By using a...
Background:
Hyperemesis gravidarum is the severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and can lead to undernutrition and low maternal weight gain. Previous epidemiologic and animal studies have shown that undernutrition and low maternal weight gain in pregnancy can increase the risk of unfavorable perinatal outcomes, like shorter gestation...
Background:
Management of late preterm prelabor rupture of membranes between 34+0 and 36+6 weeks gestation balances the risks of preterm birth with the risks of infection on both mother and neonate. Expectant management to prolong pregnancy showed similar risks of neonatal sepsis, but children at two years of age showed more neurodevelopmental del...
Background:
Maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with poorer cardiovascular health (CVH) in children. A strategy to improve CVH in children could be to address preconception maternal obesity by means of a lifestyle intervention. We determined if a preconception lifestyle intervention in women with obesity improved offspring's CVH, asses...
People exposed to the 1944–1945 Dutch famine in early gestation performed worse on a selective attention task at age 58 and reported more cognitive problems at age 72. We here hypothesized that undernutrition in early gestation is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in older age and a higher rate of cognitive decline. We tested this hypoth...
Background:
Since the birth of the first baby using IVF technology in 1978, over 10 million children have been conceived via ART. Although most aspects of ARTs were developed in animal models, the introduction of these technologies into clinical practice was performed without comprehensive assessment of their long-term safety. The monitoring of th...
Environmental exposures including toxins and nutrition may hamper the developing brain in utero, limiting the brain’s reserve capacity and increasing the risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize all currently available evidence for the association between prenatal exposures and AD-related volumetric b...
The concept of the early life developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) in adults has stimulated a new approach to understanding disease trajectories, with major public health implications. Indeed, the principle of the 'lifecourse of disease' now influences health policies internationally. Environmental influences during pregnancy and ear...
Background
Males and females have different patterns of fetal growth, resulting in different sizes at birth. Increased maternal cortisol levels in pregnancy negatively impact fetal growth. However, it is unknown whether sexual dimorphism displays differences in maternal cortisol levels already during early pregnancy and to what extent it explains s...
The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide. Experimental animal studies demonstrate that maternal obesity during pregnancy directly affects cardiac structure and function in their offspring, which could contribute to their increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Currently, a systematic overview of the available evidence regarding matern...
Objective
Knowledge gaps regarding hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) are substantial. We aimed to systematically identify and map recent evidence addressing the top 10 priority questions for HG, as published in 2021 in a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.
Design
Systematic evidence map.
Methods
We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE on 12 Januar...
People commonly face adverse circumstances throughout life, which increases risk for psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, psychosis and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Adversities may occur during different periods in life. Especially adversity during early periods has been suggested to put individuals at risk for adverse menta...
Introduction
The use of low-dose aspirin by pregnant women to prevent preterm pre-eclampsia is gradually increasing. The administration of aspirin during pregnancy improves perinatal outcome, which could translate into improved child outcome in the long term. However, antenatal exposure to aspirin could have adverse effects on child development tha...
Objectives
To determine which factors contribute to the decision of mothers to participate with their child in follow-up (FU) examinations after participation in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) prior to conception.
Design
A cross-sectional survey, including Likert-scale items. Comparisons will be made between respondents who participated in al...
Background
Improving maternal lifestyle before conception may prevent the adverse effects of maternal obesity on their children’s future cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. In the current study, we examined whether a preconception lifestyle intervention in women with obesity could alter echocardiographic indices of cardiovascular health in their chi...
Introduction
Prevention of childhood overweight is an important health priority. Evidence synthesis from studies evaluating school-based overweight preventive interventions is hampered by the wealth of different outcomes across studies. Therefore, consensus on a core set of outcomes for school-based overweight prevention studies is needed. This pap...
Objective:
To determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) years after hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and its association with HG severity.
Material and methods:
This prospective cohort study consisted of a follow-up of 215 women admitted for HG, who were eligible to participate in a randomized controlle...
Background
Early-life exposures during gestation may permanently alter thyroid physiology and health in adulthood. We investigated whether exposure to the Dutch Famine (1944-1945) in late, mid, or early gestation influences thyroid function (i.e., incidence of thyroid disease, thyroid autoantibodies, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and free thyr...
Dit hoofdstuk beschrijft het fundamentele belang van een gezonde leefstijl van vrouwen en mannen met kinderwens, voor een optimale start van het leven van het kind. We geven een overzicht van de huidige kennis over de invloed van leefstijl op de fertiliteit, zwangerschaps- en geboorte-uitkomsten en de verdere gezondheid van ouders en kind. In deel...
Background
Undernutrition during critical periods of neurodevelopment can hinder the developing brain with lasting negative consequences for brain size, structure and function. In this study, we describe self-perceived cognitive problems of men and women who were born around the time of the Dutch famine of 1944–45.
Methods
We compared self-perceiv...
Early-life adversity (ELA) is a major risk factor for developing later-life mental and metabolic disorders. However, if and to what extent ELA contributes to the comorbidity and sex-dependent prevalence/presentation of these disorders remains unclear.
We here comprehensively review and integrate human and rodent ELA (pre- and postnatal) studies exa...
Objective
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is characterized by severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, frequently resulting in severe maternal nutritional deficit. Maternal undernutrition is associated with adverse offspring health outcomes. Whether HG permanently affects offspring health remains unclear. This review aimed to evaluate effects of matern...
The present study aimed to investigate the association between hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) severity and the effect of early enteral tube feeding on cardiometabolic markers in offspring cord blood. We included women admitted for HG, who participated in the MOTHER randomized controlled trial (RCT) and observational cohort. The MOTHER RCT showed that...
Prenatal nutrition may significantly impact brain aging. Results from the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort indicated that prenatal undernutrition is negatively associated with cognition, brain volumes, perfusion and structural brain aging in late life, predominantly in men. This study investigates the association between prenatal undernutrition and late-l...
The current epidemics of cardiovascular and metabolic noncommunicable diseases have emerged alongside dramatic modifications in lifestyle and living environments. These correspond to changes in our “modern” postwar societies globally characterized by rural-to-urban migration, modernization of agricultural practices, and transportation, climate chan...
Maternal obesity is associated with adverse metabolic outcomes in her offspring, from the earliest stages of development leading to obesity and poorer cardiometabolic health in her offspring. We investigated whether an effective preconception lifestyle intervention in obese women affected cardiometabolic health of their offspring. We randomly alloc...
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on how health outcomes are unequally distributed among different population groups, with disadvantaged communities and individuals being disproportionality affected in terms of infection, morbidity and mortality, as well as vaccine access. Recently, there has been considerable debate about how social disa...
Study question
Do mental health and sexual function differ between women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with comparable BMI and fertility characteristics?
Summary answer
Women with PCOS have a poorer mental quality of life than women without PCOS, but there were no differences in symptoms of depression, anxiety, physical quality...
To personalize lifestyle advice for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and obesity, detailed information regarding dietary intake, eating behavior, physical activity levels, and quality of life (QoL) may be useful. We aimed to investigate in a post-hoc cross-sectional analysis within a large multicenter randomized controlled trial in women...
Little is known about the difference in effectiveness of lifestyle intervention between women with PCOS and non-PCOS women. In a post hoc longitudinal analysis of a randomized, controlled trial, we aimed to investigate whether infertile women with PCOS and obesity (N = 87) responded differently to a 6-month lifestyle intervention program than infer...
Development of cerebral small vessel disease, a major cause of stroke and dementia, may be influenced by early life factors. It is unclear whether these relationships are independent of each other, of adult socioeconomic status or of vascular risk factor exposures.
We examined associations between factors from birth (ponderal index, birth weight),...
We aimed to study whether lifestyle intervention could reduce systemic oxidative stress (OS) and the association between OS and cardiometabolic outcomes in women with obesity and infertility. From 2009 to 2012, infertile women with a BMI ≥ 29 kg/m2 were randomly assigned to a six-month lifestyle intervention followed by infertility treatment (N = 2...
Development of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), a major cause of stroke and dementia, may be influenced by early life factors. It is unclear whether these relationships are independent of each other, of adult socioeconomic status (SES) or of vascular risk factor exposures.
We examined associations between factors from birth (ponderal index, bir...
Objective
To develop an international definition for hyperemesis gravidarum to assist in clinical diagnosis and harmonize hyperemesis gravidarum definition for study populations.
Study design: A mixed-methods approach was used to identify potential hyperemesis gravidarum definition criteria (i.e. systematic review, semi-structured interviews and cl...
Introduction
Preterm birth is one of the main problems in obstetrics, and the most important cause of neonatal mortality, morbidity and neurodevelopmental impairment. Multiple gestation is an important risk factor for preterm birth, with up to 50% delivering before 37 weeks. Progesterone has a role in maintaining pregnancy and is frequently prescri...
Study question
Are children conceived by assisted reproductive technology (ART) at increased cancer risk, compared with the general population and with non-ART conceived offspring from subfertile women?
Summary answer
Overall cancer risk was not increased in ART-conceived offspring compared with non-ART conceived offspring from subfertile women (m...
Research question
: Does maternal preconception insulin resistance (IR) affect neonatal birth weight (BW) among women with obesity? Is IR associated with circulating bile acids (BA) and do BA influence the association of maternal preconception IR with neonatal BW?
Design
: This was an exploratory post-hoc analysis of the LIFEstyle RCT comparing li...
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, can lead to vitamin deficiencies. Little is known about HG-related vitamin K deficiency. We aim to summarize available evidence on the occurrence of HG-related vitamin K deficiency and corresponding maternal and neonatal complications. A systematic review was conducted, searching...
Introduction:
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) complicates 1% of pregnancies and has a major impact on maternal quality of life and wellbeing. We know very little about HG's long-term impact after an affected pregnancy, including recurrence rates in future pregnancies, which is essential information for women considering subsequent pregnancies. In this...
Introduction
Late preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PROM between 34 ⁺⁰ and 36 ⁺⁶ weeks gestational age) is an important clinical dilemma. Previously, two large Dutch randomised controlled trials (RCTs) compared induction of labour (IoL) to expectant management (EM). Both trials showed that early delivery does not reduce the risk of neonatal s...
Background
Stair climbing can be a vigorous lifestyle physical activity, and is associated with healthier lipoprotein profiles, lower body weight and blood pressure, as well as higher aerobic fitness. The present analysis of data from a cohort of late middle-aged men and women examined the association between daily stair climbing and the metabolic...
This paper describes the findings of a historical cohort study of men and women born around the time of the Dutch famine 1944-45. It provided the first direct evidence in humans of the lasting consequences of prenatal undernutrition. The effects of undernutrition depended on its timing during gestation, and the organs and tissues undergoing periods...
Study question:
Do parental characteristics and treatment with ART affect perinatal outcomes in singleton pregnancies?
Summary answer:
Both parental and ART treatment characteristics affect perinatal outcomes in singleton pregnancies.
What is known already:
Previous studies have shown that singleton pregnancies resulting from ART are at risk o...
Introduction:
Little is known about the pathophysiology of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). Proposed underlying causes are multifactorial and thyroid function is hypothesized to be causally involved. In this study, we aim to assess the utility of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxin (FT4) as a marker and predictor for the severity and c...
Purpose
The Dutch famine birth cohort study was set up to investigate the effects of acute maternal undernutrition of the 1944–1945 Dutch famine during the specific stages of gestation on later health, with a particular focus on chronic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, ageing and mental health.
Participants
The Dutch famine birth cohort cons...
Background
Traumatic sexual experiences can negatively affect sexual functioning and increase pelvic floor activity in women, especially when post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is developed. However, little is known about the effect of other types of interpersonal and non-interpersonal, traumatic experiences on sexual function and pelvic floor o...
At STIAS, the ‘Health in Transition’ theme includes a programme to address the epidemic rise in the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, coronary heart disease and stroke in Africa. The aim is to advance awareness, research capacity and knowledge translation of science related to the Developm...
Background:
Progesterone is widely used in prenatal care. However, long-term effects of prenatal progesterone treatment on child development are unclear.
Objectives:
To evaluate long-term outcomes in children after prenatal progesterone treatment.
Search strategy:
MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inceptio...
BACKGROUND
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with cardiometabolic disease, but recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of longitudinal studies that quantify these associations are lacking.
OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE
Is PCOS a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease?
SEARCH METHODS
We searched from inception to September 2019 in MEDL...
Globally, we are living through one of the most serious public health crises in recent history. Apart from the obvious health risks, the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the damaging impact of inequalities. The risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection and of hospitalization and mortality rates differ greatly among different communities and populations...
Previous research indicates that tailoring lifestyle interventions to participant characteristics optimizes intervention effectiveness. Our objective was to assess whether the effects of a preconception lifestyle intervention in obese infertile women depended on women's exposure to adversity in childhood. A follow‐up of a preconception lifestyle in...
Objective
To assess the association between ketonuria and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) disease severity.
Study Design
We included pregnant women hospitalised for HG who participated in the Maternal and Offspring outcomes after Treatment of HyperEmesis by Refeeding (MOTHER) trial and women who were eligible, chose not to be randomised and agreed to...
Studies of past crises have demonstrated that adverse experiences during critical periods of human development hamper the individual’s ability to reach its full potential and leaves lasting marks on health, behaviour, productivity and society as a whole. The COVID-19 crisis has severely worsened the environment in which we live and in which our fut...
Introduction
Children from minority groups are at increased risk of overweight. This study compared BMI growth patterns from birth onwards of boys and girls with overweight at 5‐6 years, according to socioeconomic status (SES) and country of origin, in order to gain more insight into the critical periods of growth to overweight.
Methods
A total of...
Objective:
Compare the long-term effects of tocolysis with nifedipine or atosiban on child outcome at age 2.5-5.5 years.
Design:
The APOSTEL III trial was a multicentre RCT that compared tocolysis with nifedipine or atosiban in 503 women with threatened preterm birth. Neonatal outcomes did not differ between both treatment arms, except for a hi...
Objective:
To develop a core outcome set for trials on the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).
Design:
Identification of outcomes is followed by a modified Delphi survey combined with a consensus development meeting and a consultation round.
Setting:
An international web-based survey combined with a consensus development meeting.
Popula...
Objective:
To assess the effect of transabdominal amnioinfusion or no intervention on long-term outcomes in children born after second-trimester prelabour rupture of the membranes (PROM between 16 0/7 - 24 0/7 weeks) and oligohydramnios.
Population:
Follow-up of infants of women who participated in the randomized controlled trial: PPROMEXIL-III...
Purpose of Article
In a previous pilot randomized controlled trial including 54 pregnant women with depression, maternal mood improved after Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) compared to treatment as usual (TAU), showing medium to large effect sizes. The effect persisted up to 9 months postpartum, with infant outcomes also showing medium to large...
Low birth weight is associated with hypertension. Low birth weight can result from fetal growth restriction (FGR) or prematurity. FGR is postulated to impact blood pressure (BP) by developmental programming. This systematic review and meta-analysis studies BP in human and animal offspring following FGR. Pubmed and Web of Science were searched for s...
Cognitive and mental health are major determinants of quality of life, allowing integration into society at all ages. Human epidemiological and animal studies indicate that in addition to genetic factors and lifestyle, prenatal environmental influences may program neuropsychiatric disorders in later life. While several human studies have examined t...
Background
Ramadan, the Islamic month of daytime fasting, is observed by many pregnant Muslims. Although pregnant women are exempt, many prefer to fast. Previous research has shown long-term adverse effects on various health outcomes among the offspring, but evidence on effects on perinatal outcomes is mixed. This study investigates effects of Rama...