Re: News Release -- UAMS Scientists Confirm Link between Premature Bi r
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Aug 14 07:40:21 2002
Terry -
kudos to your colleagues, but this is old news. Boss Tweed's question
still remains, "So what are you gonna do about it?"
art
At Tue, 13 Aug 2002, Terry J. DuBose wrote:
>
>Barbara, yes this is my university... UAMS, see:
>
>http://www.uams.edu/ (first article at top of page)
>and
>http://www.uams.edu/today/2002/081302/anand.htm
>
>This is not really new information, at lease folks have been suggesting it for some time. I have not seen this article yet, so perhaps it is with a larger population or better statistics now.
>
>Please do post ASAP. THanks.
>
>Peace, Terry J. DuBose, M.S., RDMS
>Assistant Professor & Director, Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program
>University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, CHRP
>4301 West Markham St. Mail Slot #563
>Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205 USA
>501-686-6510
>DuBoseTerryJ@UAMS.edu
>http://www.io.com/~dubose/
>http://www.uams.edu/CHRP/dmshome.htm
>http://www.obgyn.net/us/panel/panel.htm
>
>Do you think we should use this?
>
>Do you have anything to add to it?
>
>Barb
>this IS your University isn't it??????
>
>>>From: "Mottler, Mike H" <MottlerMikeH@uams.edu>
>>>To:
>>>Subject: News Release -- UAMS Scientists Confirm Link between Premature Bi
>>> rth and Later Learning, Behavioral Problems
>>>Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 15:23:37 -0500
>>>X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19)
>>>
>>> > For Immediate Release
>>> >
>>> > Contact:
>>> > Jerri Jackson, 501-686-8149
>>> > Office of Communications
>>> > University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
>>> > JacksonTerryJerri@uams.edu
>>> >
>>> > Note: High-resolution photo attached below
>>> >
>>> > UAMS Scientists Confirm Link between Premature Birth and Later
>>> Learning, Behavioral Problems
>>> >
>>> > Scientists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
>>> report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) today
>>> that premature babies are more likely to have significant learning and
>>> behavioral problems after the age of five years than babies born full-term.
>>> >
>>> > Using sophisticated statistical methodology to analyze 20 years of
>>> research around the world, the scientists at UAMS confirmed that children
>>> born prematurely have much lower cognitive scores, with
>>> lower-than-average learning ability, and more behavioral problems after
>>> the age of five years than children who were born full-term.
>>> >
>>> > The scientists call for > "> concerted efforts of clinicians and
>>> neuroscientists to [study] the biological, environmental, and
>>> psychosocial mechanisms responsible for these cognitive and behavioral
>>> differences.> ">
>>> >
>>> > Children born prematurely have been found in numerous studies to have >
>>> "> huge differences> "> in cognitive scores, and to be aggressive or
>>> withdrawn or suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
>>> However, researchers who conducted the other studies over the years used
>>> a variety of population groups and research methods, making the body of
>>> knowledge about the effects of prematurity questionable.
>>> >
>>> > K. S. > "> Sunny> "> Anand, MBBS, D.Phil., FAAP, FCCM, FRCPCH, led
>>> the study, called a meta-analysis. Dr. Anand is the Morris and Hettie
>>> Oakley Chair in Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics in
>>> the UAMS College of Medicine and chief of critical care at Arkansas
>>> Children> '> s Hospital. The National Institute for Child Health and
>>> Human Development and the Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation provided research
>>> funding to the Arkansas Children> '> s Hospital Research Institute for
>>> the study.
>>> >
>>> > The scientists analyzed 227 studies, eliminating studies that had
>>> methodological problems, before drawing conclusions from the remaining
>>> studies. Their analysis should > "> eliminate controversies> "> about
>>> the importance of prematurity for long-range outcomes.
>>> >
>>> > While the relationship between prematurity and later learning and
>>> behavioral problems is now clearer, the actual causes of those problems
>>> in children born prematurely are not yet clear.
>>> >
>>> > The UAMS investigators speculate in JAMA that the medical complications
>>> of prematurity; the painful medical procedures that many premature babies
>>> experience in hospitals; and prolonged separation from their mothers all
>>> may contribute to lower-than-average brain development and thus to later
>>> learning and behavioral problems. They also point to the stress and
>>> depression that having a premature baby can cause for parents,
>>> particularly mothers, as a potential factor in the children> '> s later
>>> developmental problems.
>>> >
>>> > Dr. Anand commented recently that the increasing survival rate for
>>> extremely low-birthweight and premature babies means that > "> a larger
>>> and larger pool of children> "> will have developmental problems > "> as
>>> times goes on > ...> and the incremental costs of educating these
>>> children are likely to be astronomical.> ">
>>> >
>>> > "> With an improved understanding of the underlying biological
>>> mechanisms, we can begin to develop more focused therapeutic
>>> interventions to decrease or prevent these long-term impairments
>>> following survival after preterm birth,> "> the scientists conclude in JAMA.
>>> >
>>> > The following > investigators, all with UAMS, collaborated with Dr.
>>> Anand: Adnan T. Bhutta, MBBS, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics;
>>> Mario A. Cleves, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics and senior
>>> biostatistician, Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and
>>> Prevention; Patrick H. Casey, M.D., FAAP, the Harvey and Bernice Jones
>>> Professor of Developmental Pediatric> s; and Mary M. Cradock, Ph.D.,
>>> assistant professor of pediatrics. The researchers formulated a novel
>>> method for assessing the quality of observational studies which other
>>> scientists will now be able to use.
>>> >
>>> > Dr. Anand also is conducting multiple studies of the relationship of
>>> pain to brain development in premature infants. By observing the progress
>>> of premature infants who receive pain medication in conjunction with
>>> painful medical procedures, and through laboratory experiments, he has
>>> formed the hypothesis that repetitive pain in the first weeks of life
>>> causes the death or damage of certain brain cells and may consequently
>>> reduce learning ability and alter behavioral development. As part of this
>>> research, Dr. Anand is participating in a nationwide study of the use of
>>> pain medication to reduce or eliminate pain during essential medical
>>> procedures for premature infants. The National Institutes of Health are
>>> sponsoring the study at 11 centers around the nation and four hospitals
>>> in Europe.
>>> >
>>> > -30-
>>> >
>>> > > <<Sunny Anand in nursery.jpg>>
>>> >
>>
>Barbara A. Nesbitt
>Publisher, MediSpecialty.com
>http://www.obgyn.net http://www.otohns.net
>4010 Long Champ Dr. #24
>Austin, Texas USA
>Phone: 512-347-9986
>Email: barbara.nesbitt@obgyn.net
--
art fougner, md
ich bin ein New Yorker
