Monday, February 9, 2015

Genes Effect Preterm Birth

After researchers conducted a study analyzing the number of copies of certain genes in hundreds of babies and their mothers, it was discovered that some babies’ genes may increase their risk of preterm birth.  A preterm birth that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy is classified as a preterm birth, and a birth that occurs before 34 weeks is an early preterm birth.  Babies born prematurely are at risk of having health problems such as brain damage, asthma, and problems with vision.

Though there was no link between the number of genes in the mothers and the risk of a preterm birth, the risk of birth before 34 weeks increased two to eleven times if any of four specific genes were duplicated, or if any of seven specific genes were deleted.  Dr. Joseph Biggio, of the University of Alabama explains that the differences of number of copies of the genes may put a baby at a higher risk of infection or other factors, which trigger preterm birth, instead of the differences directly trigging a preterm birth.  He also says the findings could help explain why treatment for preventing preterm births with the hormone progesterone, only works on about one-third of pregnant women.  Progesterone is a hormone that a woman’s body makes during pregnancy. Extra progesterone for some women can help to prevent preterm birth.  However, it was originally thought the mother was being treated with this hormone, but Biggio says perhaps the baby is the one being treated.

With this new information, many positive effects will follow.  Dr. Edward McCabe, the March of Dimes Chief Officer, states that the finding may help explain what triggers early labor despite an overall healthy and normal pregnancy, and hopefully one day lead to a screening test to help identify which babies are at a higher risk of an early birth.

I believe this a significant discovery in the medical world.  There are more than 450,000 preterm births in the United States each year, preterm birth is the leading cause of newborn death, and many babies who survive an early birth suffer from long-term health problems.  These findings can now give us hope that this overwhelming high number of deaths will decrease in the future, and many lives of babies will be saved.  Also, it will help eliminate and prevent children from growing up without long-term medical problems that may occur preterm births.     

Original: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/02/02/certain-genes-in-babies-may-up-preterm-birth-risk

Additional: http://mombaby.org/PDF/17P%20Factsheet.pdf

No comments:

Post a Comment