A new study found that premature babies are at a higher risk of developing heart diseases as adults.
Owing to the fact that premature babies are born before they are ready to leave the womb, they often face many health problems. Some of these problems include jaundice, anemia, heart murmurs, Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), apnea and bradycardia, Chronic Lung Disease/Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) and Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS).
Apart from all these problems, researchers of a new study have added another health problem to this list. The team found that premature babies are at a higher risk of developing heart diseases as adults.
For the study, researchers followed 102 premature babies from birth into their 20s and compared their findings to that of 132 babies that were born full-term. They found that the right lower heart chamber of adults that were born prematurely was smaller, heavier, had thicker walls and less pumping capacity. They also found that the earlier the premature baby was born, the more defects there were in the size and functioning of the right ventricle.
"Up to 10 percent of today's young adults were born prematurely and some have an altered higher cardiovascular risk profile in adult life," said Professor Paul Leeson, who led the group of researchers and is a Cardiologist at the University of Oxford's Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility in England in a press release. "We wanted to understand why this occurs so that we can identify the small group of patients born premature who may need advice from their healthcare provider about this cardiovascular risk. The changes we have found in the right ventricle are quite distinct and intriguing."
Alternations in an adult's right ventricle structure and function increase the chances of heart failure and cardiovascular death.
"We are trying to dig deeper into what's different about the hearts of those born preterm," said Adam Lewandowski, B.Sc., D. Phil, who undertook the study and is the first author. " The potential scientific explanations for why their hearts are different are fascinating and our study adds to the growing understanding of how premature birth shapes future heart health."
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a premature baby as a baby born before 37 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in every 9 babies born in the United States is premature. The CDC suggests the following points to avoid giving birth to premature babies.
- Avoid alcohol, drugs and cigarettes while pregnant.
- Have a thorough medical checkup before getting pregnant and opt for prenatal care when you think you may be pregnant.
- Ask your health care provider about how best to control diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
- Know about healthy diet and prenatal vitamins that includes 400 micrograms of folic acid.
- Clarify any concerns about pregnancy and any warning signs or symptoms of preterm labor that will need medical attention.
