Akademiliv

Sahlgrenska akademins nyheter

På Svenska
University of Gothenburg Logotype
  • News
  • Notices
  • Calendar
  • Grants
  • About Akademiliv
A premature baby is being screened for the sight-threatening eye disease ROP at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Photo: Ann-Sofie Petersson.

Preterm babies given certain fatty acids have better vision

24 August, 2023 Leave a Comment

NEW STUDY. Preterm babies given a supplement with a combination of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have better visual function by the age of two and a half. This has been shown by a study at the University of Gothenburg.

The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, covers 178 extremely preterm babies at the neonatal units of the university hospitals in Gothenburg, Lund, and Stockholm between 2016 and 2019. Extremely preterm babies are those born before the 28th week of pregnancy.

Around half of the children were given preventive oral nutritional supplements containing the omega-6 fatty acid AA (arachidonic acid) and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Neither AA nor DHA are included in the supplements that are currently routinely given to extremely preterm babies immediately after birth.

The researchers have previously found that the combination supplement led to the risk of contracting the sight-threatening eye disease ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) being halved. The current study looks at children’s visual development at two and a half years of corrected age (i.e. age from the estimated date of birth).

Pia Lundgren and Ann Hellström, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.
Photo: University of Gothenburg.

Better visual interpretation in the brain

The study’s first author is Pia Lundgren, an associate professor in pediatric eye research at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy and a chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

“The study shows that children who have received the combination supplement had improved visual function, regardless of whether or not they had previously had ROP,” she notes. “The improved visual development was thus not only due to the beneficial effect on the retina. The supplement also seems to have improved the brain’s ability to interpret visual impressions.”

The issue of nutrition and supplementation for extremely preterm babies is a highly topical issue within neonatal care in many parts of the world. Sweden currently lacks precise guidelines for administering fatty acid supplements to extremely preterm children, but the guidelines are now being revised – partly on the basis of the current findings.

Studying cognition and neurology

“Importantly, we can now demonstrate the positive effects that the combination supplement appears to have on visual development when the child is older,” Pia adds. “In the continued studies – on the same group of children – we will also look more closely at cognitive and neurological development, which will be particularly interesting.”

The research is supported by the Swedish Research Council’s call for clinical treatment research and is being led by Ann Hellström, Professor of Pediatric Ophthalmology at the University of Gothenburg who also works at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Other researchers are affiliated with Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, and Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital in the USA.

Title: Visual outcome at 2.5 years of age in ω -3 and ω -6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplemented preterm infants: a follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

BY: MARGARETA GUSTAFSSON KUBISTA

By: Elin Lindström
Tagged With: institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi, vetenskaplig publicering

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Add your own events in the Akademiliv Calendar

December 13 – LUCIA PROCESSION

Gothenburg’s Medicinska Sångarcorps Corus Acusticus performs Lucia songs at Sahlgrenska Academy.

  • 12:30 start at Häloscaféet, Hälsvetarbacken
  • 12:45 end at Salt&Syra / Natrium

This year’s winter break is approaching. This year, Akademiliv’s newsletter will be paused from December 21 to January 9.

Vanessa Vermeirssen: Inferring regulatory programs of tumor heterogeneity

Hybrid meeting – in Lecture Hall Arvid Carlsson or online via Zoom.
NOTE the time: 1300H.

  • Hybrid webinar 13:00-14:00, Thursday November 16th.
  • Link to Zoom webinar.
  • Sahlgrenska Academy Science Seminars – see full program in the Staff Portal.

Information from Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office

[UPDATED NOVEMBER 2023]
The Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office provides an overview of upcoming and current calls, nominations and events in an information letter. This letter is updated on a monthly basis.
Current and previous newsletters are also available in the Staff Portal.

’20 minutes for researchers’ is back – see full autumn program

During 20 minutes over Zoom, the Biomedical Library gives tips on tools and services that can facilitate your research everyday life.

More news

The Kamprad Family Foundation calls for better applications

8 December, 2023

COOPERATION. The Kamprad Family Foundation wants to fund research that is close to reality, where the results have the potential to be …  

VR funds national postgraduate school in compulsory psychiatric care and forensic psychiatry

8 December, 2023

POSTGRADUATE STUDIES. A new national postgraduate school in compulsory psychiatric care and forensic psychiatry is now being established by the …  

Win a copy of Ingmar Skoog’s acclaimed book (in Swedish)

8 December, 2023

BOOK. “70 is the new 50” has become a common phrase. The author Ingmar Skoog has now written a book on the subject with this very title. Sah …  

Challenging beliefs about person-centered care with humor and evidence in dialogue material

8 December, 2023

RESEARCH COMMUNICATION. Using humor as a tool, researchers hope to find new ways to make knowledge for the development of healthcare easier to …  

Doctoral thesis: Fear’s impact post Achilles tendon rupture

7 December, 2023

DOCTORAL THESIS. Achilles tendon rupture is a common injury, with about 20 percent of individuals unable to return to their previous level of …  

Podden Akademiliv – about fibromyalgia and other long-term generalized pain (in Swedish)

28 November, 2023

RESEARCH COMMUNICATION. In the latest episode of the Akademiliv podcast (in Swedish), you will hear Anna Grimby Ekman, professor of health …  

Doctoral thesis on predicting and preventing preterm delivery

28 November, 2023

DOCTORAL THESIS. Preterm delivery is the leading cause of death in children under the age of five. Tove Wikström’s research focuses on methods to …  

Two of this year’s Nobel Laureates in physics will lecture at Chalmers in December – registration required

23 November, 2023

NOBEL. Two of this year's three Nobel laureates in physics (Anne L´Hullier and Ferenc Krausz) will visit the University of Gothenburg and …  

The central theme for this year’s Research Day: common diseases (conference in Swedish)

23 November, 2023

INTERACTION. Research that saves lives – from screening to rehabilitation. That is the theme for the upcoming edition of Research Day, held in S …  

Davide Angeletti studies differentiation of B-celler

23 November, 2023

SCIENTIST PORTRAIT. Davide Angeletti is an associate senior lecturer at the Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg. Davide´s work …  

More news...

Sahlgrenska Academy

© University of Gothenburg
PO-Box 100, S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Phone: 00 46 31 786 0000

About the website

Elin Lindström is editor for Akademiliv.
Please feel free to send your ideas and comments to akademiliv@gu.se

Sign up for the Akademiliv newsletter:

Send you tips to Akademiliv

Do you have a suggestion for news, grants, seminars or an education?
Send an email to Elin Lindström Claessen