Low birth weight babies are at risk of fractures, hip replacement in future

Having your regular calcium supplement is not enough during pregnancy, you need to ensure that you eat right and follow all the advice of your doctor to the core to ensure a healthy birth weight of your baby. The reason being a research indicated that low birth weight and premature babies are linked to increased risk of osteoarthritis-related hip replacements in adulthood.

Interestingly, the research indicated that they were not at the risk of knee replacement surgery due to osteoarthritis (OA) as adults. Our findings suggest that individuals born prematurely or with low birth weight are more likely to need hip replacement surgery for OA in adulthood, said lead investigator, Flavia Cicuttini, professor at the Monash University in Australia.

The study used data from 3,604 participants, who were 40 years of age or older at the time when joint replacement surgeries were conducted. The participants were part of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Of them, 116 had knee replacement surgery and 75 underwent hip arthroplasty for OA.

Currently there are no disease-modifying medications available to treat OA, which makes understanding the risk factors associated with OA important for improving prevention of this disabling disease, Cicuttini added. Symptoms of OA range from mild to severe pain, stiffness and swelling of joints. OA is the most common cause of disability. (Read: Five ways smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby)

The study appeared in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty Images

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