Pediatrics

Katri Backman and Raimo Voutilainen conduct the pediatric follow-up study. We will survey the health of the children by annual questionnaires. Our aim is to study the association of pregnancy conditions (for example smoking) and microbe exposure in infancy with health and morbidity of the subjects in later childhood, adolescence and adulthood. We will investigate also the effects of pre-eclampsia and birth size of the children (SGA, small for gestational age; LGA, large for gestational age) on later health, diseases, and disease risks of the subjects; the last ones include the risk factors associated with adult cardiovascular diseases. The multidisciplinary KuBiCo project and its network will offer excellent possibilities to study the associations of nutrition and environmental exposures during pregnancy and early childhood with childhood growth, development and diseases in later life. The project can shed light on the etiology and pathogenesis of the most common developmental and health problems of childhood, for example overweight and obesity, asthma, allergy, cryptorchidism, ADHD, and diabetes.

Katri Backman, specialist in pediatrics
Raimo Voutilainen, professor in pediatrics, chief physician, emeritus
Institute of Clinical Medicine / pediatrics
Faculty of Health Sciences and
Kuopio University Hospital, Department of Pediatrics

Publications:

• Tenhola S, Todorova B, Jääskeläinen J, Jänne OA, Raivio T, Voutilainen R: Serum glucocorticoids and adiponectin associate with insulin resistance in children born small for gestational age. Eur J Endocrinol 162:551-557, 2010.
• Salonen M, Tenhola S, Laitinen T, Lyyra-Laitinen T, Romppanen J, Jääskeläinen J, Voutilainen R: Tracking serum lipid levels and association of cholesterol concentrations, blood pressure and cigarette smoking with carotid artery intima-media thickness in young adults born small for gestational age. Circ J 74:2419-2425, 2010.
• Todorova B, Salonen M, Jääskeläinen J, Tapio A, Jääskeläinen T, Palvimo J, Turpeinen U, Hämäläinen E, Räsänen M, Tenhola S, Voutilainen R: Adrenocortical hormonal activity in 20-year-old subjects born small or appropriate for gestational age. Horm Res Paed 77:298-304, 2012.
• Backman K, Piippo-Savolainen E, Ollikainen H, Koskela H, Korppi M: Irreversible airway obstruction in adulthood after bronchiolitis in infancy: evidence from a 30-year follow-up study. Respir Med 108:218-223, 2014.
• Backman K, Piippo-Savolainen E, Ollikainen H, Koskela H, Korppi M: Increased asthma risk and impaired quality of life after bronchiolitis or pneumonia in infancy. Pediatr Pulmonol 49:318-325, 2014.
• Seppä S, Voutilainen R, Tenhola S: Markers of insulin sensitivity in 12-year-old children born from preeclamptic pregnancies. J Pediatr 167:125-130, 2015.
• Nordman H, Voutilainen R, Laitinen T, Antikainen L, Huopio H, Heinonen S, Jääskeläinen J: Growth and cardiovascular risk factors in prepubertal children born large or small for gestational age. Horm Res Paediatr 85:11-17, 2016. Nordman H, Voutilainen R, Antikainen L, Jääskeläinen J: Prepubertal children born large for gestational age have lower serum DHEAS concentrations than those with a lower birth weight. Pediatr Res 82:285-289, 2017.
• Backman K, Ollikainen H, Piippo-Savolainen E, Nuolivirta K, Korppi M. Asthma and lung function in adulthood after a viral wheezing episode in early childhood. Clin Exp Allergy 48:138-146, 2018
• Nordman H, Voutilainen R, Antikainen L, Jääskeläinen J: Plasma IL-1 receptor antagonist concentration has an inverse association with birth weight in prepubertal children. J Endocr Soc 2:232-239, 2018.
• Nordman H, Voutilainen R, Laitinen T, Antikainen L, Jääskeläinen J: Birth size, body composition, and adrenal androgens as determinants of bone mineral density in mid-childhood. Pediatr Res 83:993-998, 2018.