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Explain the Potential Effects of Five Different Life Factors on the Development of an Individual

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P2 – Explain the potential effects of five different life factors on the development of an individual
Genetics affect who you will grow to be in many ways. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the language of life that is within every living thing, genetic instructions that form what we will become. There is still much of the language that scientists don’t understand, but after extensive research scientists have found that certain gene codes actually relate to increased chances of developing a cancer or disease. We only have to look at family medical histories to know that is true, some diseases are clearly more common in families than in unrelated people. But whether a genetic predisposition actually makes a person ill depends on the …show more content…

[2] The study cannot say what impact the slower development has, or if it affects the chances of successfully giving birth to a child but slow development can be related to various different health problems when the foetus is born and also developing them in later life.
Mothers who drink alcohol also put their child at risk of developing slowly. Recent research suggests that a mother who drinks a large glass of wine a day stunts their child’s growth up to the age of nine. ‘Scientists at Harvard Medical School found pregnant women who had three units of alcohol a day had babies with a lower height, weight and head circumference than light or non-drinkers.’ [3] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2188846/Women-drink-pregnancy-affect-child-s-growth-years.html
The researchers tested a group of 85 pregnant women, defined as ‘heavy drinkers’, who drank the equivalent of at least a large glass of wine a day (250ml). This group was compared with a group of 63 women who either did not drink at all or drank ‘lightly’ – defined as less than one unit a day. The study is one of the longest-running into the effects of alcohol on the unborn child, their children’s height, weight and head circumference was measured at the ages of six months, a year, five years and nine years. Lead author Dr Robert Carter said: 'We found that children born to women who drank heavily during pregnancy had reductions in

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