For some critically important genes that regulate seed growth, there is a critical window during fertilized zygote development in which environmental exposure alters genomic imprinting.
Nonetheless, she is certain that there is a critical window for successful treatment.
"Fetal development is a critical window of human development, and so any toxic exposure during that time, during pregnancy, doesn't only have a short-term effect at that moment, but really an effect that lasts the entire lifetime," said Nathaniel DeNicola, who was on the committee that reaffirmed the ACOG opinion.
"This study suggests there may be a critical window of opportunity, when women are in their 40s and 50s, to detect metabolic signs of higher Alzheimer's risk and apply strategies to reduce that risk," said lead author Dr. Lisa Mosconi, who was recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine as an associate professor of neuroscience in neurology.
As a "mobile dad" himself, Mr. Lee says not only that parents are "at their most cognitively challenged (tired, in a new situation)" during a child's first few years, but that those years are a critical window for obesity prevention.
And there may be a critical window for intervention in the aftermath of a parent's suicide during which pediatricians could carefully monitor and refer children for psychiatric evaluation and, if needed, care.
Our results demonstrate greater ER expression and activity during the pubertal transition, supporting the idea that this life stage is a critical window for phenotypic modulation by estrogenic compounds.
The findings suggest there is a critical window during which gut microbes help wire the brain.
Research now is focusing on whether there is a "critical window" for use -- a specific time of life when hormones would do more good than harm.
When kids are young, before the age of ten, there is a critical window of opportunity when their habits and motivations can be influenced.
