Iron Supplements Good for Boosting Health of Low Birth Weight Babies

Developmental problems is a reality for babies born at below average weight but this risk can be lowered by beginning iron supplements early enough, a study showed.

Low birth weight infants carry a higher risk than normal weight babies to develop both cognitive and behavioral issues.

Scientists Discover Genes Linked to Low Birth Weight, Adult Shortness, Later Diabetes Risk
Four new regions that contribute to low birth weight have been identified by scientists.

During the study, researchers sought to check whether treating iron deficiency in these infants could reduce the risk of developmental problems later on. They studied 285 low birth weight infants and the results pointed out that nearly 12.7% of the low birth infants who were not put on iron supplements portrayed behavior problems as compared to 2.9% in the group that were on 1 mg. iron supplements and 2.7% in the group that was given 2 mg. supplements.

“To our knowledge, however, the current study is the first randomized trial to show a positive effect of early iron supplementation on neuro-behavioral development beyond 2 years of age,” the authors concluded.

Babies Born After 3 or More Abortions May Come with Increased Risk Of Prematurity And Low Birth Weight
One of the largest studies finds that women who have had three or more abortions have a higher risk of some adverse birth outcomes, such as delivering a baby prematurely and with a low birth weight.

Source-Medindia

Low Birth Weight Linked to Increased Heart and Kidney Disease Risk
Low birth weight can have an increased long-term risk for developing cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetes, beyond the known short-term effects, researchers say.