Baby pain can last a lifetime
Filed under: Baby health — Alan @ 10:15 am
A recent study published in the journal Neuroimage suggests that infants who are routinely subjected to pain in the first weeks of their lives will be more susceptible to pain in later years.
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council and led by Dr. Rebeccah Slater at London’s University College Hospital (UCL). Two groups of babies were tested; those who were born at their expected due date and those born prematurely at a month to three months early. The premature babies spent at least 40 days in hospital, undergoing several monitoring and testing procedures daily.
The research involved measuring infants’ brain activity before, during and after the procedure known as heel lancing, a routine method of drawing blood. The EEG (electroencephalogram) readings showed a sharper reaction to the procedure in babies born prematurely and tested more frequently than those of the same post-natal age born at normal term.
These findings support earlier research suggesting that the ‘pain centre’ in the brain is sensitized very early in an infant’s development and that this sensitivity may continue through his or her lifetime.
Dr. Slater said that this is a strong indication that doctors need to find better ways to reduce the impact of pain from medical procedures, using analgesics or other means. She noted that previous studies have also found a higher sensitivity to pain in older children (ages nine to fourteen) who were premature babies.
The good news is that the negative response is only to pain – children in the two groups were equally responsive to touching and stroking, and the premature babies showed no less enjoyment than the others. This should allay any fears that parents of ‘preemies’ may have about causing trauma when cuddling their child.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.