Early-life programming of aging and longevity: the idea of high initial damage load (the HIDL hypothesis).

In this study, we test the predictions of the high initial damage load (HIDL) hypothesis, a scientific idea that early development of living organisms produces an exceptionally high load of initial damage, which is comparable with the amount of subsequent aging-related deterioration accumulating during the rest of the entire adult life. This hypothesis predicts that even small progress in optimizing the early-developmental processes can potentially result in a remarkable prevention of many diseases in later life, postponement of aging-related morbidity and mortality, and significant extension of healthy life span.