Children given anaesthesia suffer from learning
disabilities
According to an Australian study, children under
three who are given anaesthesia may have a higher risk of developing learning
difficulties. The findings are based on an analysis conducted by the University
of Western Australia (UWA) of the long-term effects of anaesthesia on children,
based on 2,868 children born in the same region between 1989 and 1992. Britta
Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg, professor of paediatric anaesthesia at the UWA
School of Medicine and Pharmacology, said the study assessed the effects of
early childhood exposure to anaesthesia in the first three years of life on
long-term differences in language and cognitive function, the journal
Paediatrics reports.
“We looked at 321 children from the Raine study
who were exposed to anaesthesia for surgery and diagnostic testing before the
age of three and found they were about twice as likely to develop a significant
language impairment and three times more likely to have problems with abstract
reasoning by the age of 10, when compared to children who were not exposed to
anaesthesia and surgery,” Ungern-Sternberg said. Ungern-Sternberg said the
study was not definitive and more work needed to be done to look at the
long-term effects of anaesthesia on young children.
“The most important thing I want to emphasise is
that these results do not mean that children should not have surgery if it is
needed,” she was quoted as saying in a UWA statement.
“Parents should consult their surgeon to see if
the procedure is necessary. Any concerns regarding anaesthesia and potential
anaesthetic implications for their child should be discussed with their anaesthetist
before surgery,” said Ungern-Sternberg.
Source: http://health.india.com
30.08.2012
Never too late to start walking!
They say it is never too late.
And the saying seems very much true when it comes to going for a walk, as
experts have found a daily stroll could save one’s life by protecting against a
host of chronic diseases. According to the US study, just a little light
exercise can stave off heart failure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even
Alzheimer’s. And it is never too late to start. Stepping up exercise in your
50s can have major long-term benefits, Daily Express reported. People who
increased their fitness by just 20 percent in the middle age reduced their
chances of developing the chronic diseases even decades later by 20 percent.
In fact, introducing a gentle
walk, housework, gardening or DIY (do it yourself) into your daily routine from
the age of 50 can cut the risk of developing these deadly illnesses at 65.
Jarett Berry, a senior author of the study, said: “We’ve determined that being
fit is not just delaying the inevitable, but it is actually lowering the onset
of chronic disease in the final years of life.”
Researchers assessed the fitness
levels of people in midlife and then followed them up 26 years later.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre in the US city of Dallas, studied
data of 14,726 healthy men and 3,944 healthy women of an average age of 49,
enrolled in the Cooper Centre Longitudinal Study, which keeps medical records
from over 40 years.
Source: http://health.india.com
30.08.2012
Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming
them is what makes life meaningful
No comments:
Post a Comment