May 17, 2006 -- A new study shows that caffeine therapy may help the lungs of premature babies weighing 1 or 2 pounds at birth.

So far, the researchers only have early results from the study. They've published that data in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The key finding is that premature babies who started caffeine therapy during the first 10 days after birth needed supplemental oxygen less often at 36 weeks after their mothers' last menstrual period, compared with premature babies who didn't get caffeine therapy, without a higher risk of death or intestinal inflammation/infection before leaving the hospital.

However, babies receiving caffeine therapy temporarily gained less weight than those that didn't get caffeine therapy.

The long-term safety results aren't in yet, write the researchers. They included Barbara Schmidt, MD, of Canada's McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

It's also not known if the results apply to premature babies who start caffeine therapy later, after "most of the lung damage has occurred," states a journal editorial.