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Effects of Premature Birth Felt into Adulthood
Filed under: In The News
Researchers find premmies face health and social problems as they grow. Credit: Getty Images
MSN reports researchers from the University of Rhode Island followed more than 200 premature infants for 21 years. They found preemies often grow up to be less healthy and face a greater risk of heart problems than other kids. They also tend to struggle more socially.
Lead researcher Mary Sullivan, a professor of nursing at the University of Rhode Island and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, tells MSN extremely low birth weight, repeated blood draws, surgery and breathing issues can affect stress levels in people born prematurely.
She adds such stressors produce higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which is involved in the regulation of metabolism, immune response and vascular tone.
The less a preemie weighs at birth, the greater the risk, she tells MSN.
Sullivan and her team found preemies born at extremely low birth weights had the poorest pulmonary outcomes and a higher resting blood pressure. Premature infants with medical and neurological problems had up to a 32 percent greater risk for acute and chronic health conditions versus normal-weight newborns.
Sullivan adds pre-term infants with no medical conditions -- particularly boys -- still struggled more academically. Preemies tended to have more learning disabilities, trouble with math and need more school services than kids who were full-term babies, she tells MSN.
"These findings are important for parents, nurses in the neo-natal intensive care units, teachers and staff in the schools, disability services offices in colleges and primary care providers," Sullivan tells MSN. "By identifying the issues pre-term babies face in childhood, adolescence and through adulthood, we can all be better prepared to take steps to mitigate their effects."
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
7-02-2011 @ 7:08AM
Donna said...After reading this, I wanted to say my husband is 52 years old and weighed 1.5 lbs when born. He was one of the fortunate ones that survived in an era before medical technology caught up. When he was 10, he was placed on Ritalin. He is very intelligent, tests placed his IQ at 160, and is by-far one of the smartest people I know. Until his 40's, he had very few illnesses; however, once he got sick, they seem to have made up for lost time, Including 1/2 of his heart blocked and high blood pressure. Socially, he has done fine, is gainfully employed and has never been unemployed. Although he did quit school, he learned a trade which resulted in him having his own side business. His parents told of his first night home and being too small to put in the crib and him actually sleeping in a dresser drawer seemed to fuel him in acknowledgement of his own accomplishments over the years
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7-02-2011 @ 7:29AM
Melinda said...I am caught somewhere in the middle of this discussion. I am now 42. The middle of my mother's nine children, I was born 6 1/2 weeks early ( 10 1/2 months after my sister). I was 19 inches long, but I weighed 6lbs 11 oz. My father refused to let me stay in the hospital ( I was born Dec 17th & he insisted I went home for Christmas). My biggest problems from being born early is asthma. I've had since I was in middle school but never diagnosed til I was an adult. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid months after my youngest son was born, followed by allergies I never had as a child. I catch colds very easily and if not careful, they turn quickly into bronchitis or phneumonia. People are surprized to hear I'm a preemie, that's my excuse being short, 5' 1'.
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7-02-2011 @ 10:13AM
Veteran said...I was born premature over 64 years ago. The doctors said that I'd never see my 6th birthday. Although I didn't do well in high school, primarily due to my immaturity; when I went to college several years later, I graduated from college with honors. I take medications now for cholesterol and high blood pressure, but that is due to poor lifestyle choices I made when younger. I thank God, my parents, and old-time medicine.
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7-11-2011 @ 10:42PM
jill comte said...I think its wonderful that so many of the parents of preemies, and preemies themselves have and continue to have lives with very few complications related to their prematurity. How lucky you are! My son was born at 27 wks, 1 lb. 14. oz., and went down to 1 lb. 5 oz. My first 2 children were healthy, 8 lb babies, but as my doctors said, I broke all the rules getting severe toxemia when I didn't have it with my 1st 2. My son is a wonderful young man at age 24 with so many positive qualities: empathy, compasion, sense of humor, amd smart in so many ways. I love him so much and wouldn't trade him for any child in the world. Unfortunately, I have had to watch him struggle from birth. When he was born, there were not the early intervention programs they have today (CA bay area). Even so, he was followed in the neonative program at Children's Hospital and had speech therapy for 16 yrs. (funded a large part by us), occupational therapy, social skills, etc. I was a stay-at-home mom and was able to give him a warm, caring, supportive environment to grow, with the financial resources to get him what he needed. But, he was in special education all through school, uncluding attending a non-public HS paid by the school district. He has auditoy, visual, short term memory and processing speed disorders, severe ADHD and depression, as well as social and self esteem issues. Since he has average and above average perceptual reasoning and splintered skills in other domains, services for him completely ended when he graduated from HS. Today he has a job and is relatively happy, but continues to struggle. One good thing is that I became a special education teacher and use my and my son's personal experiences to help other parents and children. Please understand and acknowledge that not all preemies have the life that most of you talk about. Along with the pain I feel to watch my son struggle, it hurts to hear comments that don't show compassion for and totally disregard many preemie's difficulties in life
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