The World Health Organization estimates that more than a third of pregnant women (around 37%) suffer from anemia, a proportion that is higher in low and medium income countries. Although it was already known that the anemia in advanced pregnancy stages can cause complications such as low birth weight or premature delivery, a new study has found to have Anemia in the first weeks of pregnancy could increase the risk of congenital heart disease in the baby.
New research has been funded by the British Heart Foundation and has revealed, in particular, that women who present anemia during the first 100 days of pregnancy have a significantly greater risk of having a child with congenital heart disease. For the first time in the town of the United Kingdom, researchers have established a relationship between these cardiac malformations, which develop in the fetus before birth, and maternal anemia in the early stages of pregnancy.
The results of its analysis have been published in the BJOG magazine and, according to their estimates, this type of anemia could be responsible for approximately one in 20 cases of congenital heart disease in the country. The researchers analyzed the data of 16,000 pregnant women and verified that those that were anemic in the first 100 days of pregnancy had 47% more likely to have a child with congenital heart diseasecompared to the usual risk, which is around 1 in 100 births. This result was maintained even after considering other factors that can influence this type of defects, such as maternal age.
Preventing early maternal anemia is key
“We already know that the risk of congenital heart disease can increase by various factors, but these results expand our specific understanding of anemia and transfer it from laboratory studies to clinical practice. Knowing that early maternal anemia is so harmful could be a world -level inflection point,” said Duncan Sparrow, associate teacher and principal researcher at the British Heart Foundation in the department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics of the University of Oxford, in a note published by the University.
“Since iron deficiency is the main cause of many cases of anemia, generalized iron supplementation for women, both during the stage in which pregnancy is being sought, and during pregnancy, it could help prevent congenital heart disease in many newborns before it develops,” he adds.
To carry out the investigation, anonymous data were used from records of general medicine consultations. More than 2,700 mothers whose children were born with congenital heart disease that compared with almost 14,000 women whose children did not present this disorder and who had pregnant themselves on similar dates were identified.
“If the low iron level turns out to be one of the culprits, replenish iron levels during the early stages of pregnancy, when the baby’s heart is being formed, it could have a significant benefit for your heart health throughout life.”
Through blood tests carried out during the first 100 days of pregnancy, it was determined that 4.4% of mothers whose children were born with heart disease had anemia, compared to 2.8% in the group of mothers whose children did not have this condition.
The next step will be to confirm whether the anemia that is specifically due to the lack of iron is the direct responsible for these cardiac malformations, as it has already been observed in studies with mice. If this relationship is confirmed, clinical trials could be performed to check if iron supplements can reduce the number of cases.
“If the low level of iron turns out to be one of the culprits, replenish iron levels during the early stages of pregnancy, when the baby’s heart is forming, it could have a significant benefit for its heart health throughout life,” said Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director of the British Heart Foundation.
“While observational studies such as this can show links, they cannot determine the cause. Broader studies are needed to confirm the finding and determine what type of congenital heart disease could be related to the low level of iron. It is also important to point out that the usual risk of having a child with congenital heart disease Congenital heart disease is still relatively low, ”he concludes.
Source: www.webconsultas.com
