Every year they are born in the world 15 million premature babies, and about a million of them fail to survive. Scientists have been decades investigating the causes of this type births and, although in many cases they derive from a combination between genetic and environmental factors, in others it remains a mystery.
But a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has taken another step in research, revealed that there are six genetic areas that are associated with the duration of pregnancy and the risk of premature delivery, offering doctors and scientists new data to continue working on the prevention of such births.
Why does premature labor occur?
One in ten births in the world takes place before week 37 of gestation. According to the latest data, in Spain 28,000 babies are born prematurely being one of the European countries with the highest preterm birth rate.
The scientific community is well aware of the genetic and environmental factors that influence preterm birth, among which would be:
- Smoking during pregnancy
- Poor feeding of the pregnant mother
- Mother's diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes
- History of repeated miscarriages
- History of premature births
However, between 30% and 40% of cases, the factors that cause preterm birth are associated exclusively with genetic factors of which, until then, little was known.
But a recent study carried out by a team of researchers from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital (USA), has determined some of the genetic causes that could hide behind preterm births:
"We have known for a long time that premature birth is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Previous research has suggested that between 30% and 40% percent of the risk of preterm birth is linked to genetic factors. new study is the first to provide solid information on some of these genetic factors "- reports Dr. Louis Muglia, coordinator of this research.
The importance of selenium in the diet and lining of the uterine wall
The team of researchers analyzed genetic information and pregnancy data of more than 50,000 women, looking for both similarities and genetic alterations in those whose babies were born before the 37th week of pregnancy.
Once the relationship between maternal genes and the medical evolution of pregnancy was evaluated, the researchers identified six directly associated genetic regions at a higher or lower risk of premature delivery. And some of the conclusions obtained were unknown to date:
The cells of uterine lining they play a much more important role than was initially believed in the duration of pregnancy. This very significant finding could allow medical intervention in the future from the moment of implantation, in order to avoid premature delivery.
Another of the six genetic areas discovered in the study refers to selenium. The lack of this micronutrient in the mother's diet had not been considered to date responsible for premature births, but after this investigation it has been seen that the lack of selenium can affect negatively.
However, at the moment doctors do not study supplementing selenium with pregnant women and urge to maintain a healthy diet to maintain correct levels of this mineral, present in nuts, some vegetables, liver and meats.
A new step towards prevention
The study, which has been developing for almost 15 years and has had the collaboration of important international entities such as The University of Gothenburg (Sweden), the Norwegian Institute of Public Health of Oslo or Yale University, among others, has supposed findings determinants on which start work and keep researching.
Every year, 15 million premature babies are born in the world, which unfortunately results in the death of one million of them and important physical sequelae in another percentage.
According to data from the Spanish Society of Neonatology, the number of premature births in Spain has increased 36% in the last 20 years, and even the medical and scientific advances provide intensive care that save the lives of many of these babies, there is still a way to go.
We hope that this recent research contains significant clues that help to understand the mystery of premature birth and can help doctors avoid it.IStock photos
Via Cincinnati Children's blog
In Babies and More They create an artificial uterus for the great premature babies (but the mother is still the first thing), Every year 15 million premature babies are born in the world, They help save the lives of millions of premature babies: how an incubator works ? What is a preterm birth? Can it be prevented ?, Smoking in pregnancy affects the physical and psychological development of the baby
