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A new study suggests that babies born too early are more likely to develop heart disease in adulthood than full-term infants.
The researchers found that adults born before 37 weeks of pregnancy were 53% more likely to develop heart disease than full-term babies. In addition, people who were born a little early – between 37 and 38 weeks of gestation – were 19% more likely to develop heart disease.
Pregnancy normally lasts about 40 weeks and babies born after 37 weeks of gestation are considered term children. Babies born prematurely – earlier than 37 weeks – often have difficulty breathing and digesting food in the weeks following birth. Premature infants may also face long-term challenges, such as impaired vision, auditory and cognitive abilities, as well as social and behavioral problems.
Premature birth has also been badociated with an increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes decades later. But research to date has failed to conclusively link early delivery to an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, which occurs when the arteries are narrowed and limit the amount of blood and oxygen reaching the site. heart.
For the present study, researchers examined data on more than 2.1 million babies born in Sweden between 1973 and 1994 and followed them until 2015 to determine the number of heart conditions developed. Only 1,921 of these babies, less than 1%, were diagnosed with heart disease between 30 and 43 years of age.
"Premature birth interrupts the development of the cardiovascular system and other organs, resulting in abnormal structure or function of blood vessels and other disorders such as diabetes that can lead to heart disease," said Dr. Casey Crump, lead author of the study, Dr. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
"Our findings have not been explained by maternal factors that may contribute to both premature birth and future heart disease, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. "Crump said by e-mail. "In addition, we also compared people born prematurely with their siblings who were not, which suggests that the results were not explained by other factors of risk shared among families, but were more likely by the direct effects of prematurity. "
The researchers calculated that, for every 100,000 full-term babies born each year, about 5.9 would develop heart disease as adults. This compares to about 6.5 per 100,000 babies born a little early and 8.8 per 100,000 premature babies.
According to the study's authors, one of the limitations of the study is the lack of more detailed clinical data to verify the diagnosis of heart disease. They also had too few extremely premature infants to draw definitive conclusions about heart risks badociated with delivery before 34 weeks of gestation.
Another disadvantage is that the follow-up period was too short to detect differences in rates of heart disease later in adulthood, when the disease is more often diagnosed.
Nevertheless, the results suggest that adults born even a little early should take extra precautions to protect their heart, said Dr. Thuy Mai Luu of the University of Montreal and CHU Sainte-Justine in Canada, who co-authored wrote an editorial published with the report.
"Certain risk factors badociated with cardiovascular disease can be prevented through healthy lifestyle habits, including a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, reduced sedentary time, regular physical activity, and avoidance of diabetes." Primary and secondary exposure to smoke, "Luu said by email.
"This is important for everyone, but perhaps more for children and adults born before term," Luu added. "Since it's hard to change behaviors, it's crucial to adopt a healthy lifestyle early in childhood, which is essential for parents."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2Z7ZFhL and http://bit.ly/2Z66Dny JAMA Pediatrics, online June 3, 2019.
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