Study boosts suspected link between mothers' gum disease and premature birth, low birth weight.(Brief Article)

2002 APR 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mothers who suffer from periodontal disease are significantly more likely to deliver their babies prematurely than women without that illness, a new University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill study shows. Such women also are more likely than others to deliver babies whose weight is less than normal.

The study, done in collaboration with Duke University scientists, supports results of earlier investigations at UNC and elsewhere that suggested a link, said Dr. Steven Offenbacher, professor at the UNC School of Dentistry.

Offenbacher, director of the Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases, presented his group's findings in March at the annual meeting of International Association for Dental Research.

In the 5-year study, researchers evaluated periodontal disease in more than 850 women before and after they gave birth and divided the women into groups representing healthy gums, mild disease and moderate-to-severe disease.

They then adjusted for risk factors affecting birth timing and weight such as age, race, food stamp eligibility, marital status, previous preterm births, smoking and other health problems.

"This prospective study confirms our earlier case-control studies showing that both periodontal disease and periodontal disease progression during pregnancy have an effect on the fetus," Offenbacher said. "It increases the risk of preterm delivery twofold or greater depending on ...