Caffeine reduces sleep apnea in premature babies

Sleep apnea is a serious condition where breathing stops or gets very shallow while asleep. In premature infants, this condition is called apnea of prematurity (AOP).

It’s normal for all newborns to have pauses in breathing, but babies with AOP have drops in heart rate before 80 beats per minute that causes them to become pale and bluish. Premature babies may resume breathing on their own of may require help. Although common in preemies, apnea of prematurity can have significant health complications if not diagnosed or treated effectively.

Premature infants receive medical care for AOP in the neonatal intensive care unit where they get help breathing with the help of ventilator and possibly some medications to help their lungs mature.

Surprisingly (to me, at least) one of the common treatments is caffeine therapy. Caffeine seems to stimulate the respiratory system of premature babies and help them breathe better.

A study that came out of New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) last year found that caffeine is effective in as fast as two days after treatment and the babies stayed on the ventilator one week less than those who didn’t get the caffeine treatment.

Does caffeine have a long-term side negative effect on the infants? A follow-up that appeared this week showed that caffeine therapy even significantly improved the infants’ survival without any neurodevelopmental disability at ages 18-21 months. The therapy also reduced the risk of cerebral palsy and cognitive delay.

Although the study by Dr. Barbara Schmidt of the Caffeine for Apnea of Prematurity Trial Group is still on-going, these are reassuring results for pre-term babies that develop apnea of prematurity.

sources: medicalnewstoday; parenthood; kids health]

Tags: sleep apnea, apnea of prematurity, preterm, premature, babies, infant, caffeine, therapy, Methylxanthine