#article : IBS linked with low birth weight (28/9/06)

Haven't read anything linking IBS before, so this was pretty interesting news to me.


http://www.bounty.com/News.aspx?Article=17707713

IBS linked with low birth weight
28th Sep 2006
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been linked with a low birth weight by research from Scandinavia.

Scientists from Norway have found that babies born weighing less than 2.5kg (5.5lb) have more chance of developing IBS in later life, with the problem believed to relate to the development of the digestive system.

More than 3,300 pairs of male and female twins born between 1967 and 1979 were analysed in the study.

While it was found that those with birth weights under 2.5kg were more likely to develop IBS, the scientists were "unable to quantify the exact size of the effect", according to the BBC.

Speaking about the reasons behind the link, lead researcher Dr May-Bente Bengston said: "It could be because the gut system has restricted development in smaller babies.

"This could mean the bowel is affected, causing IBS symptoms, but we really cannot be sure."

The problem was more greatly associated with people that weighed less than 1.5kg when they were born. These people were two and a half times more likely to develop IBS than someone weighing more than 2.5kg at birth.

I darn sure will. I suspect I'll be underweight, as my mother was malnourished as a refugee when she gave birth to me.

I was a month early and 4 lb 11 oz, or something like that.  My mother was a smoker and had pneumonia at the time.  Quadruple whammy!  I think she says the nurses called me "peanut." I've made up for it now!