The ongoing epidemic of chronic diseases involves a spectrum of clinical entities now
understood to represent late manifestations of progressive metabolic dysfunction initiated in …

Advances in stress physiology and molecular dynamics can illuminate population health
inequality. The “weathering” hypothesis posits that socially structured, repeated stress …

The social status of groups is key to determining health vulnerability at the population level.
The impact of material and psychological stresses imposed by social inequities and …

A scientific consensus is emerging that the origins of adult disease are often found among
developmental and biological disruptions occurring during the early years of life. These …

Understanding differential disease susceptibility requires new tools to quantify the
cumulative effects of environmental stress. Evidence suggests that social, physical, and …

Nutritional, hormonal, and other aspects of the gestational and infancy environments have
effects on biology and metabolism that persist into adulthood to influence risk for …

Research relating stress to health has progressed from anecdotal evidence in the 1930s
and 1940s to complex multivariate models that identify underlying longitudinal mechanisms …

Despite a wealth of underpinning experimental support, there has been considerable
resistance to the concept that environmental factors acting early in life (usually in fetal life) …

Emerging research demonstrates that diet, pollution, and other environmental triggers can
alter both the function and expression of human genes and lead to a heightened disease …

The possible causal role of the environment in health disparities is not well understood,
even though it has been a national priority for many years. Progress to investigate the …