A 50-year follow-up study shows that corticosteroids, used to reduce the risk of lung problems in premature births, do not increase long-term heart risk in exposed babies.
- Corticosteroids are sometimes given to pregnant women at risk of premature birth.
- Studies have raised concerns about the long-term consequences of exposure to these drugs.
- Research, based on 50 years of medical data, shows that they do not increase the risk of heart problems.
Prematurity increases vulnerability. Children born before 8 and a half months of pregnancy are more likely to suffer from health problems. “The most serious complications mainly concern the brain, lungs, digestive tract and eye.precise Inserm. To reduce the risk of lung problems related to premature birth, doctors prescribe corticosteroids to some pregnant women. These anti-inflammatory medications help the baby’s lungs develop before birth. But scientific studies have pointed to the risk of heart problems in exposed children. In PLOS Medicineresearchers from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, prove the opposite.
Prematurity: corticosteroids, medications used to reduce breathing problems
In the early 1970s, New Zealand scientists, obstetrician Professor Graham Mont Liggins and pediatrician Dr Ross Howie, demonstrated that two corticosteroid injections given to pregnant women at risk of early labor reduced the incidence of respiratory distress in babies and induced a significant reduction in neonatal deaths. “It was clear that there were short-term benefits, but steroids are powerful drugs, and some have serious side effects.”warns Dr Anthony Walters, co-author of this new study.
No risk for long-term cardiovascular health
In order to understand the long-term risks associated with these drugs, the research team looked at patients in their fifties, who had been exposed to the treatment during pregnancy. In total, the researchers used medical data from 424 babies exposed to this drug during pregnancy: they were followed for 50 years. They particularly looked at the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes or prediabetes) and the age at first major adverse cardiovascular event (cardiovascular death, heart attack). myocardium, coronary revascularization, stroke, admission for peripheral vascular disease and admission for heart failure).
According to their conclusions, there is “no adverse long-term consequences on the cardiovascular health of now-adult children whose mothers received corticosteroids because they were at risk of giving birth prematurely”. Dr. Anthony Walters continues: “We proved we had nothing to worry about. We believe that although premature babies have a range of health problems as they grow, these are not caused by steroids.”
