Being born underweight has more consequences than previously thought: the infant has a higher risk of suffering from sensorineural hearing loss. Underweight fetuses may have ears that are not fully developed. The Folkehelseinstituttet (the National Institute of Health) in Norway did a study that found this link between fetuses’ development and sensorineural hearing loss. Infants who weigh fewer than 1500 grams (3.3 lbs) have the highest risk to suffer from this type of hearing loss.

One of the researchers, Bo Engdahl, said the slow growth of the fetus in the uterus may cause the development of the ears to stop. Infants who weigh above 3500 grams at birth have only a small risk of sensorineural hearing loss; the risk decreases as the birth weight increases.

Engdahl also mentioned it is the fetus’ growth in the uterus that is important; the duration of the pregnancy is of secondary importance. The study emphasised the importance of monitoring fetus’ development in the uterus. The monitoring includes screenings for diseases or illness in the mother. Smoking, abusing drugs or suffering from infections should be reduced or stopped, if possible.

Source: www.hear-it.org

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Hearing Loss Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.