By IANS
New York : Having low cholesterol levels is as bad as too much cholesterol during pregnancy and can increase the risk of a premature delivery, say US scientists.
Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute examined over 1,000 women from South Carolina and their newborn babies.
They found that the prematurity rate among women with the highest cholesterol levels was about 12 percent, while among white women with the lowest cholesterol levels it was 21 percent, the online edition of BBC News reported.
However, it found no increase among African American women in the low-cholesterol category. The study revealed that five percent of women with moderate cholesterol levels gave birth prematurely.
Babies born prematurely face the risk of several health problems including lung and heart problems, blindness, deafness and learning difficulties.
“Based on our initial findings, it appears that too little cholesterol may be as bad as too much cholesterol during pregnancy, but it is too early to extrapolate these results to the general population,” said lead researcher Max Muenke.
“More research is needed to confirm the findings. The right amount of cholesterol is fundamental for good health, both before and after birth,” Muenke added.
The researchers found no difference in the rate of birth defects — but women with very low cholesterol were more likely to give birth to babies with a smaller head size, they noted.
There are two types of cholesterol — high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL cholesterol is known as good cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attacks in humans.
High levels of LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol in the blood can however increase the risk of heart diseases.