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Bodil Hammer Bech

Publications and source records attributed to Bodil Hammer Bech.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Epilepsy and febrile seizures in children of treated and untreated subfertile couples.

BACKGROUND: Only few studies have addressed the long-term neurological outcomes of children born by subfertile couples. We studied the risk of epilepsy and febrile seizures in children of treated and untreated subfertile couples. METHODS: The study included 83 194 live singletons born by mothers who took part in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). Information on time to pregnancy (TTP) and infertility treatment was reported by the mothers in computer-assisted telephone interviews. Data on epilepsy and febrile seizures were extracted from the Danish National Hospital Register. RESULTS: Overall, children of subfertile couples (TTP > 12 months) had a 51% higher risk of epilepsy [incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.51; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.17-1.94] compared with children of couples with a TTP of 0-5 months. The corresponding estimates were 1.71 (95% CI: 1.21-2.42) if the couples had received infertility treatment and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.00-1.89) if they conceived spontaneously. Children of subfertile couples did not have a higher risk of febrile seizures except for those who received hormonal treatment (HT) with or without intrauterine insemination (IRR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.14-1.66). CONCLUSIONS: Children of subfertile couples had a slightly increased risk of epilepsy, and the risk tended to be higher for children of couples who received infertility treatment. Whether this reflects side effects of treatment or severity of subfecundity is not known.

Child↗
PubMed2006

Stillbirth and slow metabolizers of caffeine: comparison by genotypes.

BACKGROUND: Cytochrome P4501A2 (CYP1A2) and N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) are key enzymes in the metabolism of caffeine. The polymorphism of these genes facilitates the detection of fast and slow metabolizers, and if caffeine is causally related to stillbirth, we expect slow metabolizers to have a higher risk of stillbirth at any given intake of caffeine. Gluthatione S-transferase alpha1 (GSTA1) may also be active in the metabolism of caffeine as it conjugates glutathione to aromatic amines. Our study, therefore, included analyses of the association between GSTA1 and stillbirth. METHODS: A nested case non-case study among women who participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort: 142 cases of singleton stillbirths and 157 controls of singleton live births. RESULTS: Slow oxidizer status (CYP1A2), slow acetylator status (NAT2), and low activity of GSTA1 were not individually associated with the risk of stillbirth [odds ratio (OR) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.67-1.67, OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.60-1.51, and OR = 1.42, 95% CI 0.88-2.28, respectively]. We did, however, observe that subjects with a combination of slow CYP1A2, slow NAT2, and low GSTA1 genes had almost a 2-fold risk of stillbirth compared with subjects with other combinations of genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: We found no link between any single genotype and the risk of stillbirth. An association between a combination of genotypes and stillbirth was discovered. Caffeine may be causally related to stillbirth, but larger studies using Mendelian randomization are needed to verify this.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed2005

Coffee and fetal death: a cohort study with prospective data.

The authors conducted a cohort study within the Danish National Birth Cohort to determine whether coffee consumption during pregnancy is associated with late fetal death (spontaneous abortion and stillbirth). A total of 88,482 pregnant women recruited from March 1996 to November 2002 participated in a comprehensive interview on coffee consumption and potentially confounding factors in pregnancy. Information on pregnancy outcome was obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register and medical records. The authors detected 1,102 fetal deaths. High levels of coffee consumption were associated with an increased risk of fetal death. Relative to nonconsumers of coffee, the adjusted hazard ratios for fetal death associated with coffee consumption of 1/2-3, 4-7, and > or =8 cups of coffee per day were 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89, 1.19), 1.33 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.63), and 1.59 (95% CI: 1.19, 2.13), respectively. Reverse causation due to unrecognized fetal demise may explain the association between coffee intake and risk of fetal death prior to 20 completed weeks' gestation but not the association with fetal loss following 20 completed weeks' gestation. Consumption of coffee during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of fetal death, especially losses occurring after 20 completed weeks of gestation.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed2005

Prepregnancy obesity and fetal death: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between high prepregnancy body mass index and fetal death, allowing for the effects of gestational age, weight gain, and maternal diseases in pregnancy. METHODS: Prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and fetal death were examined in the Danish National Birth Cohort among 54,505 pregnant women who participated in a comprehensive interview during the second trimester. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained from registers and medical records. Cox regression analyses with delayed entry and time-dependent covariates were used to estimate the risk of fetal death. RESULTS: Compared with normal-weight women (18.5 < or = BMI < 25), the risks of fetal death among obese women (BMI > or = 30), expressed as adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were as follows: before week 14: 0.8 (0.5-1.4), weeks 14-19: 1.6 (1.0-2.5), weeks 20-27: 1.9 (1.1-3.3), weeks 28-36: 2.1 (1.0-4.4), weeks 37-39: 3.5 (1.9-6.4), and weeks 40+: 4.6 (1.6-13.4). Overweight women (25 < or = BMI < 30) also experienced a higher risk after 28 weeks, and especially after 40 weeks of gestation (HR 2.9, 95% CI 1.1-7.7). Analysis of stillbirth (fetal death at 28+ completed weeks of gestation) indicated that the effects were not due to obesity-related diseases in pregnancy, nor was weight gain associated with stillbirth. The increased risk of stillbirth among overweight and obese women was partly attributable to inadequate placental function (crude odds ratios 2.1, 95% CI 1.0-4.4, and 5.2, 95% CI 2.5-10.9, respectively). CONCLUSION: Prepregnancy obesity was associated with an increasing excess risk of fetal death with advancing gestation, and placental dysfunction may be a possible contributing factor.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Maternal consumption of coffee during pregnancy and stillbirth and infant death in first year of life: prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between coffee consumption during pregnancy and the risk of stillbirth and infant death in the first year of life. DESIGN: Prospective follow up study. SETTING: Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, 1989-96. PARTICIPANTS: 18 478 singleton pregnancies in women with valid information about coffee consumption during pregnancy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Stillbirth (delivery of a dead fetus at > or =28 weeks' gestation) and infant death (death of a liveborn infant during the first year of life). RESULTS: Pregnant women who drank eight or more cups of coffee per day during pregnancy had an increased risk of stillbirth compared with women who did not drink coffee (odds ratio=3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 5.9). After adjustment for smoking habits and alcohol intake during pregnancy, the relative risk of stillbirth decreased slightly. Adjustment for parity, maternal age, marital status, years of education, occupational status, and body mass index did not substantially change the estimates of association. There was no significant association between coffee consumption and death in the first year of life after adjustment for smoking habits during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Drinking coffee during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of stillbirth but not with infant death.

Coffee↗