Babies who are born prematurely are almost twice as likely to experience breathing problems such as wheezing and wheezing or asthma. To such conclusions scientists from the USA, the Netherlands and Great Britain came. Scientists set out the results of their large-scale study in the popular journal PLOS Medicine.
The authors of the study analyzed data from 30 scientific papers on the problem of respiratory disorders, which in total covered 1.5 million newborns. It turns out that children born prematurely (before the 37th week of pregnancy) had respiratory problems (wheezing, wheezing) or asthma in childhood they were 46% more likely when compared with those children who were born on time. Those babies who were born much earlier than expected (up to 32 weeks of gestation) experienced such breathing problems three times more often. According to the authors of the study, prematurely born children account for 3.1% of cases of respiratory pathologies in childhood.
Scientists noted that about 11% of children today are born prematurely, and the number of survivors at this end of pregnancy is increasing due to the improvement of neonatal and obstetric technologies. That is why it is very important to understand all the long-term consequences of early birth for the future health of the child.
Scientists emphasized that the impact of respiratory disorders on lung health in infancy is observed until the child reaches adulthood, which makes it possible to draw conclusions about the lifelong nature of the disease.
Researchers decided not to stop there and set a specific goal. Their next step will be to determine the causal mechanisms of asthma in premature babies and apply the knowledge gained in prevention, the authors said.