Chronic Disease Starts When Your Young
In this segment, Dr. Ana‑Maria Temple argues that chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis begin in childhood rather than emerging suddenly in adulthood. She cites a Japanese autopsy study of children involved in motor‑vehicle accidents that found coronary artery plaques as early as age ten, demonstrating that atherosclerotic changes are present long before mid‑life. She also references a 2017 research initiative at Wellington Children’s Hospital in New Zealand that was investigating whether newborns in the NICU already exhibit coronary artery abnormalities. Dr. Temple uses these studies to challenge the common perception that adult disease is solely the result of current lifestyle choices, emphasizing that early‑life exposures and biology set the foundation for later chronic illness.
