Giving birth to infants weighing less than 5.5 pounds can potentially lead to memory and cognitive issues later in life, as a recent study published in the June 12, 2024, online edition of Neurology® suggests. This impact on memory and cognitive functions is equivalent to aging by one to two years for individuals who were born with low birth weight.
While the study does not establish a causal link between delivering a low-birth-weight infant and experiencing memory problems, it highlights a significant association worth exploring further.
Lead researcher Diana C. Soria-Contreras, PhD, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted, “Previous studies have demonstrated a heightened risk of cardiovascular issues and hypertension among individuals born with low birth weight. Our study now adds to this by suggesting that a history of low-birth-weight deliveries could also serve as an indicator of cognitive decline in later years.”
The research involved 15,323 women with an average age of 62, all of whom had at least one child. Out of this group, 1,224 participants, or 8%, had previously experienced a low-birth-weight delivery, defined as infants weighing less than 5.5 pounds after 20 weeks of gestation.
Participants provided details on their pregnancy complications, birth outcomes, and birth weights, in addition to undergoing a series of cognitive assessments.
The study amalgamated scores from various memory and cognitive tests, indicating participants’ ability to process information swiftly, accurately respond to stimuli, and retain new information. On average, those with a history of low-birth-weight births manifested lower scores, suggesting a cognitive impact akin to aging by one to two years.
Even after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as age, smoking habits, and hypertension, the results remained consistent. This held true even when excluding participants with premature deliveries, multiple pregnancies, or pregnancy-induced hypertension disorders.
Furthermore, the study revealed a trend where individuals who had experienced multiple low-birth-weight deliveries exhibited progressively lower cognitive scores.
Soria-Contreras emphasized the need for future investigations to validate these findings and explore potential interventions. Screening women with a history of low-birth-weight deliveries for cognitive decline and implementing strategies to promote brain health could potentially delay or prevent cognitive impairment and dementia.
One limitation of the study is its sample predominantly comprising non-Hispanic white individuals, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other demographic groups.
The research received backing from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute on Aging, and the Office of Research on Women’s Health.
