An elevated birthweight may make patients more likely to develop atrial fibrillation (AFib) later in life, according to new research out of China.
The findings, presenting during the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology (GW-ICC) 2020 virtual meeting, suggest that parents can take early steps to help keep their children from developing AFib as adults.
“Preventing elevated birth weight could be a novel way to avoid AFib in offspring—for example, with a balanced diet and regular check-ups during pregnancy, particularly for women who are overweight, obese or have diabetes,” author Songzan Chen of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, said in a prepared statement. “People born with a high weight should adopt a healthy lifestyle to lower their likelihood of developing the heart rhythm disorder.”
The team explored data from more than 537,000 patients, including more than 55,000 with AFib, to reach its conclusions. For this analysis, an “elevated birthweight” was viewed as anything over 8 pounds, 13 ounces.
“A major strength of our study is the methodology, which allows us to conclude that there may be a causal relationship between high birth weight and AFib,” Chen added. “However, we cannot discount the possibility that adult height and weight may be the reasons for the connection. Birth weight is a robust predictor for adult height, and taller people are more likely to develop AFib. Previous research has shown that the link between birth weight and AFib was weaker when adult weight was taken into account.”
More information about GW-ICC 2020, scheduled for Oct.19-25, is available on the European Society of Cardiology’s website.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.