Length of gestation and birthweight in dizygotic twins

Loos, Ruth J.F.; Derom, Cathérine; Eeckels, R; Derom, R.; Vlietinck, Robert

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)05716-6

Cited by 97 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Our results do not support their theory as well as the findings regarding birthweight found by Loos et al (2001). As expected, males weighed more than females.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Two plausible explanations could account for the differences in the result found by Glinianaia et al (1998), by Loos et al (2001) and in our population. First, different populations may have different gene pools, which could account for the differences between the Israeli, Norwegian and Flemish populations.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…Glinianaia et al (1998) further suggested a close follow-up with respect to hormone-sensitive disorders and reproductive capability. Recently, Loos et al (2001) found that within a given birthweight category, gestation of boys is shorter than that of girls, and this sex difference increases with decreasing birthweight. They suggested that boys grow at a faster pace than girls, but that girls catch up late in gestation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Influence of a Male Twin on Birthweight of its Female Co-twin — A Population-based Study

Goldman¹,

Blumrozen

Blickstein

2003

Twin Res

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Fetal growth is influenced by various determinants, with males being heavier than females. It was recently suggested that female birthweight tends to be increased by the presence of a male co-twin. We evaluated this hypothesis in the Israeli population. We reviewed a retrospective population database of the 1993-1998 Israeli Birth Registry. We compared male birthweight in the male-male and malefemale combination sets and female birthweight in the femalefemale and male-female combination sets. We compared the mean birthweight of males and females in three groups of total twin birthweight. The sample of 12,686 sets included 50.6% males. The male-male combination was found in 31.3% sets, female-female in 38.7% and unlike-sex combination in 30.0%. A total twin birthweight of less than 3000g was found in 7.2% sets, of 3001-5000g in 50.7% sets, and of over 5000g in 42.1% sets. The mean male birthweight was 2398 ± 602 g and the mean female birthweight was 2316 ± 566g, p < .0001 (95% CI of 67, 96). The mean birthweight of males in the malemale combination was significantly lower than in the unlike-sex combination, p < .0001, in total birthweights over 3000g. No significant difference was found between the mean birthweight of females in the female-female and in the unlike-sex combinations in all total birthweight strata. Our findings do not substantiate a male-related inter-twin influence on female birthweight. Population differences might underlie the opposing observations in the literature.

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“…Our results do not support their theory as well as the findings regarding birthweight found by Loos et al (2001). As expected, males weighed more than females.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Influence of a Male Twin on Birthweight of its Female Co-twin — A Population-based Study

Goldman¹,

Blumrozen

Blickstein

2003

Twin Res

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“…In the subset of discordant pairs, the frequency of females among smaller twins was significantly higher than that of males, implying that males are doing better in the uterine environment of a twin gestation (Blickstein & Weissman, 1990). This conclusion was indirectly supported by a study showing that the mean birthweight of males in unlike-sex pairs was significantly higher than that of males in malemale pairs, with no such relation seen in females (Loos et al, 2001). Blumrosen et al (2002) showed significantly higher birthweights of females in unlike-sex pairs, a trend existing irrespective of discordance level.…”

Section: Fetal Gender and Discordancementioning

confidence: 87%

Birthweight Discordance in Multiple Pregnancy

Blickstein¹,

Kalish

2003

Twin Res

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“…Male fetuses grow faster in the womb (Marsal et al, 1996), male babies are heavier at birth (Loos et al, 2001) and are associated with a longer time elapsing for mothers' to produce their next child (Mace and Sear, 1997). It is therefore possible that the costs to the mothers health and future reproductive success of male births is larger than for female births, and that this cost will be most significant in populations where fertility is high and mortality rates (both for children and adults) are high.…”

Section: Global Variation In Sex Ratio At Birthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing evolutionary hypotheses about human biological adaptation using cross-cultural comparison

Mace

Jordan

Holden

2003

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

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Physiological data from a range of human populations living in different environments can provide valuable information for testing evolutionary hypotheses about human adaptation. By taking into account the effects of population history, phylogenetic comparative methods can help us determine whether variation results from selection due to particular environmental variables. These selective forces could even be due to cultural traits-which means that geneculture co-evolution may be occurring. In this paper, we outline two examples of the use of these approaches to test adaptive hypotheses that explain global variation in two physiological traits: the first is lactose digestion capacity in adults, and the second is population sex-ratio at birth. We show that lower than average sex ratio at birth is associated with high fertility, and argue that global variation in sex ratio at birth has evolved as a response to the high physiological costs of producing boys in high fertility populations. ᮊ 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.Keywords: Comparative method; Human sex ratio; Lactose tolerance; Phylogeny; Gene-culture co-evolution; Adaptation; Maternal mortality; Natural selection 1. A phylogenetic approach to testing evolutionary hypotheses using cross-cultural data Physiological data from a range of human populations living in different environments can provide valuable information for testing evolutionary hypotheses about human adaptation. The comparative method can help us determine whether variation results from selection due to environmental factors, or is possibly selected for by cultural forces (which means that gene-culture co-evolution is occurring). However, a simple, statistical correlation between traits across cultures is complicated by the non-independence of cultures, as was first recognized in the 19th century by Francis Galton. The same problem applies in cross-species comparisons. Evolutionary biologists have developed phylogenetic comparative methods that can take account of the hierarchical inter-relatedness of species and test for the co-evolution of traits on phylogenetic trees. Mace and Pagel (1994) argued that similar approaches can be used to test crosscultural hypotheses. In this paper, we will outline two examples of the use of these approaches to test adaptive hypotheses explaining global variation in two physiological traits: the first is lactose digestion capacity in adults, and the second is population sex-ratio at birth. In the case of lactose

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Length of gestation and birthweight in dizygotic twins

Cited by 97 publications

References 4 publications

The Influence of a Male Twin on Birthweight of its Female Co-twin — A Population-based Study

The Influence of a Male Twin on Birthweight of its Female Co-twin — A Population-based Study

Birthweight Discordance in Multiple Pregnancy

Testing evolutionary hypotheses about human biological adaptation using cross-cultural comparison

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