According to MSNBC, diabetes risk may be slightly higher in premature babies. According to a Swedish study, children who spent less time in the womb had a slightly higher risk, less than 1 percent, of developing diabetes at a later time in their life.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3 of every 25 babies are delivered prematurely. Premature babies face a lot of developmental risks, but diabetes could lead to other risk factors such as high blood pressure.
The research team, along with Dr. Casey Crump of Stanford University, used a national prescription database to track the use of diabetes medications by 630,000 people in Sweden born between 1973 and 1979. Roughly 28,000 of those individuals were born premature, the study found.
Crump’s team found that 15 out of 100 preemies developed diabetes by the time they were in their twenties and thirties. Majority of the cases were type 1 diabetes, requiring insulin without oral medication.
Crump said that it is unclear why early birth associated with diabetes, but said that additional research is necessary in that field. It could be that poor nutrition can trigger changes in the baby’s hormones during gestation, which may increase the risk of diabetes. Diabetes is also less common in Sweden than in the U.S, Crump said. The researchers also said that premature babies need to worry about other factors such as family history and obesity, as two thirds of Americans are considered overweight.
