Obesity during pregnancy has numerous consequences, not only for the health of the mother, but also of the child. Research sheds new light on the issue of obesity in pregnant women.
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It is not new to anyone that obesity increases the risk of many health problems for both mother and offspring into adulthood. It has been associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and pre-term delivery, and increases in risk of birth defects, type 2 diabetes, asthma and heart disease. Now, thanks to new research published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, we’ve learned why this might be so.
Maternal obesity weakens the infant’s immune system during labor, making it more susceptible to the disease.
In the study, 39 non-smoking, healthy pregnant women were assigned to 3 groups – normal weight, overweight and obese. After delivery, the umbilical cord blood of the newborns was collected and assessed in terms of the condition of the immune and circulatory systems. The research results turned out to be very interesting.
Specific immune cells – monocytes and dendritic cells in neonates of obese mothers showed significantly lower responses to bacterial antigens. According to the researchers, these changes could result in abnormal responses to infection and immunization in this group of children. And since the response to vaccination is not what we say, the question arises whether children of obese mothers should not be vaccinated by a different vaccination regimen?
And that’s not all. Samples of cord blood from children of obese women were also shown lower level of eosinophils, cells involved in an allergic reaction. Scientists say these cells can travel to an infant’s lungs, which would explain why babies from obese mothers are born at greater risk of developing asthma later in life.
The above studies show that maternal obesity may affect the changes in the infant’s immune system, which may affect their entire life.
The photo is from: PhotosByDarko / Foter / CC BY
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