Aggregated News
Black women have significantly higher rates of premature birth than white women, and a new study suggests there may be underlying genetic factors even when other known risks are taken into account.
The researchers, who published their findings this month in The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, say that even though preterm birth is not a desirable outcome, it may provide some advantage, perhaps protection against diseases — in somewhat the same way the gene for sickle cell confers protection against malaria.
"We have to think of everything in the context of what’s been evolutionarily advantageous," said Dr. Louis J. Muglia, a professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, who was the senior author of the study.
Dr. Muglia noted that during a normal pregnancy, certain immune responses are suppressed, and that cytokines, the molecules involved in healthy immune response, are heavily involved in preterm birth.
"The same things that select for a robust immune response," he said, "may also confer a risk for giving birth early."
Some experts remain skeptical. Neil J. Risch, director of the...