Low-Birth Weight Linked to Later Disease

Low-birth weight infants may be at a greater risk of stress-related health problems such as coronary heart disease and diabetes, a Finnish study found.

The study showed that people who were born with low birth weight, now between the ages of 60 to 70, have a much lower cortisol response to stress than those with average birth weights, lead author Dr. Ero Kajantie, a senior researcher at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland. People with low birth weight may be more vulnerable to long-lasting effects of psychosocial stress, which may lead to low-cortisol stress response.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that low-birth weight — below the 10th percentile — can lead later in life to low concentrations of cortisol, a hormone that regulates stress response by adjusting blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

In the study, 287 men and women born between 1934 and 1944 underwent a standardized psychosocial stress test in conjunction with having their cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone, or ACTH, concentrations measured. Researchers found the lowest cortisol and ACTH concentrations were seen in subjects with the lowest birth weights.