Heart disease expert receives CBE for work

9:59am Thursday 5th January 2006

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PROFESSOR David Barker, the scientist behind ground- breaking research identifying links between early childhood and heart disease in later life, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year honours list.

Over the past 20 years, Prof Barker, of East Dean, has proved links between a mother's diet around the time of conception and pregnancy to heart problems experienced by the child in middle age.

His theory, the Barker early origins hypothesis, has now been accepted by scientists around the world as identifying causes of coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke and type two diabetes.

Last year, Prof Barker published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that weight gain between the ages of two and 11 also leads to later-life heart problems.

In September, he was awarded the Danone International Prize for Nutrition in recognition of his work conducted during 33 years at the University of Southampton.

"What we have shown is that coronary heart disease originates from the way we grow in the womb," said Prof Barker.

He believes his theory will eventually have a major impact on the way people approach the issue of heart disease and its causes, but it has been a struggle to change long-standing beliefs.

"It is potentially so important that people can't quite get their heads round it," he said.

"We have battled with this because now it is challenging some very fundamental ideas. It is not to do with diet in middle age, and it is not to do with genetics.

"Improving the diet of women around the time of conception is the key to reducing heart disease in the next generation."

Prof Barker spends much of his time in America, where he is a professor of medicine at the Oregon health and science university.

"All the money for medical research is in the States, and the theory is much better known over there," he said.

"I think the CBE is not about science it's about public relations, and hopefully it is something that will be useful for Southampton in getting more funding.

"A lot of the credit should go to the university, because it has been a rough ride any fool can support research when it is popular, but this has been very unfashionable."