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Vascular Disease Resource
The Problem With Premature Infants and Heart Disease
The connection between premature infants and heart disease is truly frightening, but it is one which must be learned about in order for any decent solutions to be able to come about. If a woman goes into labor before 37 weeks, the baby is considered as being premature, and for the majority of the time premature infants and heart disease go together because most premature babies are born with at least some type of heart problem.
About Premature Infants and Heart Disease
A premature infant is one whose organs are not fully grown, and thus the infant needs to have special care in a nursery or intensive care unit until their organ systems have developed enough to be able to sustain life without medicinal support. Premature infants and heart disease are not the only two things that go together here, however.
Other common symptoms in a premature infant include: respiratory problems such as hyaline membrane disease, episodes of absent breathing, poor feeding, transparent skin, wrinkled features, soft and flexible ear cartilage, body hair, a weak cry, inactivity, an enlarged clitoris in females, and a small scrotum in males.
Treatment
Although premature infants and heart disease are not entirely avoidable, there are forms of treatment which can be used. For instance, since infants are usually unable to coordinate sucking and swallowing before 34 weeks gestation, they thus will most likely have a feeding tube placed into their stomach and in very premature infants, the feedings may have to be done through a vein.
Complications
There are a number of different complications which may or may not be directly related to premature birth, including: hyaline membrane disease, bleeding in the brain, retinopathy, heart disease, jaundice, anemia, low blood glucose, delayed growth and development and mental-motor retardation.
Prevention
Although there is obviously no surefire way for a woman to prevent herself from going into premature labor, one of the most important steps to preventing prematurity is to receive prenatal care as early as possible in the pregnancy and to continue on with this care until the baby is born. This is because statistics show that early and proper prenatal care greatly reduces the odds of premature birth and related deaths.
Also maintaining a healthy lifestyle while you are pregnant is crucial towards the health of your baby, and so you need to make sure that you eat a diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, that you drink plenty of water, and also that you get a proper amount of exercise each day, at least thirty minutes if possible.
As such, the serious heart problems that derive from congenital heart disease must be treated as soon as possible or else serious consequences can occur. After all, only after you have been properly diagnosed can you really get yourself on the road to treatment. This means eating a nutritious and well-balanced diet, getting plenty of physical activity, and staying away from bad habits such as smoking and excessive drinking. The term heart disease then refers to any disorder in any of the various parts of your cardiovascular system, which is made up of your heart and as well the blood vessels throughout your body. In addition to the medical treatments of heart disease, there have been a number of preventive measures that are in place that can greatly reduce the problems associated with coronary disease. |
