Preterm Birth Increases the Risk of Asthma or COPD Later In Life

Preterm birth is not only a risk factor for lung health in childhood but also a risk factor for respiratory diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), at least up to middle age. However, this risk increases up to 8-fold for people with a history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in infancy. Births that occur before 37 weeks of pregnancy are considered preterm birth. The new study published in the European Respiratory Journal shows the highest risk for asthma or COPD was in individuals who were born before the gestational age of 28 weeks. This risk was around 3-fold compared to those born full-term at gestational age 39-41 weeks.

Lung Consequences in Adults Born Prematurely

Breathing problems are among the most common problems that babies born preterm have after birth. A new study of over 2.6 million people from Finland and Norway shows that such problems may extend at least up to middle age. Asthma and COPD are the most common forms of obstructive airway disease, meaning diseases that cause difficulty in airflow out from the lungs.

Increased risk for asthma and COPD was independent of many factors that are related to preterm birth and asthma, such as socioeconomic status, age or asthma of the mother, prenatal disorders, or the mother’s smoking during pregnancy.

The research team used national birth registers of all people born in Finland during 1987-1998 and in Norway during 1967-1999. Their health records were followed up until they were at maximum 29 years old in Finland and 50 years old in Norway.

During the study period, around 5% of the children both in Finland and Norway were born preterm. After 18 years of age, about 41 300 people (1.6%) had asthma and about 2 700 (0.1%) COPD.

Researchers only studied asthma treated in specialist care, which is why we caught only the more severe end of the disease in this study and not all who have asthma. The low rates of COPD are additionally explained by the young age of the population in this study.

Therefore, the message to health professionals is that the medical history of patients presenting with respiratory symptoms should include birth conditions such as being born preterm.

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Source-Eurekalert