Premature Babies at Higher Risk of Experiencing Heart Ailments in Life, New Study Finds
Research studies have identified the so-called ''preterm birth'' or birth of a baby before the 37-week gestation as a risk factor for the early development of the heart, which also includes heart failure.
Weeks or even months after an infant is born are considered a crucial time for the development of heart, specifically premature babies.
This is mainly because they experience major changes with their blood flow and augmented demands for oxygen as they shift to the external environment at a time they were supposed to be developing inside their mother's womb in a normal manner.
A lot of studies have identified the so-called "preterm birth" or birth of a baby before the 37-week gestation, as a risk factor for the early development of the heart, which also includes heart failure.
Experts in the field of medicine have explained that "heart failure" takes place when the heart is unable to pump around the body as efficiently as it is supposed to be.
ALSO READ: Stronger Immune System After 50: A Celebrity Doctor's Health Advice in This Time of Pandemic
Preterm Birth and Abnormalities
Research studies have shown, preterm birth is associated with some abnormalities in the premature baby's heart's structure and function. Still, the degree and progression of such changes in the entire development, from infancy to adulthood, are said to be undefined.
Nevertheless, according to the same research, such progressions must be defined as "one in every ten people globally is found to be born 'preterm'."
As indicated in an article posted in The Conversation, researchers said they performed "a meta-analysis of data" from studies previously published, that compared the structure and function of the heart through the use of echocardiography or cardiovascular resonance imaging for people who were born "premature" against individuals born at complete term.
As a result, the study signified that both the heart's right and left pumping chambers, also called the ventricles, are smaller in size throughout all stages of development in people who were born prematurely.
DON'T MISS THIS: Band-Aid Introduces Skin Tone-Shaded Bandages in Support for Black Communities
Impairment in Ventricle
More so, there is also an impairment seen in the contractile pump function of the right ventricle across all stages of development.
Also, according to study, even though the ability of the left ventricle to "relax and fill with blood" was discovered to be lower in premature babies, this seems to become worse with age.
Primarily too, the thickening level of the muscle wall of the left ventricle from "childhood to adulthood" is augmented in individuals who were born preterm.
A lot of these changes were found to worsen in individuals who were born the most prematurely or earliest.
Being Born Premature Linked to the Development of Heart Ailment
The said changes in the hearts of those born prematurely have been associated with the development of heart ailment later on in their lives. However, they may also put these people at more immediate heart illness risk compared to people born in compete terms.
Studies have shown that such physical changes in the heart can make individuals born preterm less capable in coping with the demands of physiological tension like exercise for one.
Consequently, given the significant proportion of the populace is "born preterm," researchers believe steps are needed to be put in place for the maintenance and promotion of "long-term heart health."
Such steps, as recommended by the study authors, include favorable lifestyle approaches, especially those that pertain to exercise and nutrition, starting as early as an individual's childhood.
IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS: WHO Claims Bubonic Plague in China Is Not a Risk
Jul 09, 2020 07:30 AM EDT
