|
|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Approximately 15 million babies are born too early every year. In the US this amounts to over $26 billion a year in health care costs and is a leading cause of newborn death. For babies who survive coming into the world too early, many face a lifetime of disability from developmental delays, vision loss, and cerebral palsy. Even being born just a few weeks too soon increases the risk of death and disability. Preventing premature births is a major health care focus.
An intriguing new approach to discovering the cause and ultimately the prevention of preterm births is to look at the microbiome – the bacteria and other organisms – that live inside a pregnant woman, reside in her placenta and set up housekeeping in newborns.
We all have them – trillions of microbial friends. It is our personal collection of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in our gut, nose, mouth, throat, skin, and urogenital tract. They make up close to 3% of our body weight. If these microbes are kept healthy they protect the body. They extract energy (calories) from food you eat but can’t digest, they absorb and produce vitamins and amino acids (protein fragments), and they protect you from infectious microbes.
For decades doctors believed that a pregnant woman’s uterus and placenta were sterile environments that protected the unborn baby from bacteria elsewhere in the body. But current research is showing that the human placenta has its own microbiome with over 300 different types of microbes. Research has also shown that a woman’s vaginal microbiome changes over time as her pregnancy progresses. Understanding the healthy patterns of our friendly microbes can help doctors to recognize changes that could result in poor pregnancy outcomes.
When something disturbs the balance of a person’s microbial community, such as in the mouth or stomach, it can cause a chain reaction that upsets body functions in other areas. If a pregnant woman needs antibiotics to fight a urinary tract infection, the antibiotic not only knocks out the bad bacteria, but some of the good guys get destroyed as well which can lead to unintended effects. The incidence of urinary tract infections have been linked to premature births.
When the microbial communities of the body become unbalanced or disorganized this can antagonize the body’s immune response and trigger inflammation, which has been linked to premature births. The work of Dr. Michal Elovitz, at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania, has shown that the cervical vaginal microbiome may be different in women who have a premature baby. He does not yet know what causes this difference but it appears to create an exaggerated immune response in the vagina and cervix. This can lead to the cervix getting softer and breaking down too early in pregnancy leading to an early labor.
Periodontal disease, inflammation of the gums, is also linked to prematurity. Interestingly, the microbiome of the women’s mouth and the microbiome of her placenta have many similarities. And, we know that the microbes that reside in the placenta change during pregnancy. We also know that the microbiome that sets up housekeeping in newborns is affected by the time of delivery.
Newborns have very complex microbial communities in their gut within the first week of life. These colonies of microbes change continually until a more mature microbiome is reached sometime between 1 to 3 years of age. Researchers believe that a newborn’s initial microbiome may be seeded in utero by the placenta and the establishment of healthy microbes varies by the length of the pregnancy. The microbiome of full term babies differs from those born prematurely.
What does all this research mean to a woman who is pregnant or considering a pregnancy? Although there may be a link between a woman’s diet and her microbiome which could affect pregnancy outcomes, at this point the research can only offer general guidelines rather than specific recommendations.
- Eat foods with fiber – whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans – to keep your useful microbes healthy. Fiber is the food they thrive on.
- Eat a moderate fat diet because animal studies show a high fat diet alters a newborn’s gut microbiome.
- Get a dental checkup to treat any existing periodontal disease.
- Use antibiotics cautiously during pregnancy.
Bottom line: Healthy moms make healthy babies.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
###
For advertising/promotion contact Mike McCurdy: 877-634-9180 or [email protected] … We have over 7,000 journalists as subscribers.