Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

CDC reveals relationship between prepregnant weight and heart defects in infants

by Medindia Content Team on Jul 27 2001 12:17 PM

Keeping fit and in to be in shape is not only good for the individuals themselves but also for their siblings. Over weight, which is of course the predisposer of majority of the illness such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension etc., is now being studied in depth, the reason is to attain the destination of disease free environment, that are preventable.

Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia have found that the infants born to those who were overweight in their prepregnant state are likely to have heart defects than of normal weight women.

In their extensive research which compared 608 infants born with an isolated heart defect with 2,767 infants without heart defects between 1968 and 1980, they found that infants of underweight women were 26% less likely to have a heart defect than infants of average-weight women. Infants of overweight and obese women were 36% more likely to have such a defect.

But the reason for the prevailing relationship between the prepregnancy weight and the heart defect is unknown.

This important association between maternal weight and heart defects has its implications in preventive medicine.


Advertisement