Recent medical research has demonstrated that the use of a new medical procedure, referred to as "brain cooling," has been shown to save the lives of newborns that experienced oxygen deprivation at birth, which is known to cause severe and sometimes fatal brain injuries.
The new procedure can help newborns less than six hours old and who were born after at least 36 weeks of gestation. The procedure entails placing a cooling blanket, equipped with tubes of cold water flowing through it, on top of a baby. Over a period of 72 hours, the flowing cold water will lower the baby's body temperature to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit. This causes the body's systems to slow; ultimately reducing the amount of energy the body needs to operate and reduces swelling in the brain. This prevents further brain injury from occurring.
An 18-month study conducted by University of Florida researcher, Michael D. Weiss, M.D., revealed that the use of a cooling blanket can reduce the death rate, risk of seizures, cerebral palsy, improve mental scores and vision in newborns. Before this procedure was discovered, there was no real therapy that was brain-specific for newborns.
On a more medically technical level, the use of a cooling blanket helps "decrease the amount of cerebral edema, or swelling, around the brain after birth. It also decreases cell death and decreases the release of excitatory factors, which can cause various birth injuries. [Additionally] it decreases inflammation that is typically seen in the brain."
The treatment is expected to help any babies that were deprived of oxygen at birth including those who had umbilical cords wrapped around their necks during birth.
Currently, the use of cooling blankets is only used at academic medical centers. However, Doctor Weiss is attempting to create a network to implement this medical procedure nationwide.
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