Different techniques have been tried to calm persistent baby crying, but the only thing that really works is time, according to a University of Toronto team of researchers.
Thirty-eight mother-infant pairs were divided into three groups. The first group of mothers were counseled about different anti-crying techniques. The second group put their crying infants in a car-ride simulator to determine if the motion would calm crying. The third group were merely reassured that nothing was wrong with their infants.
“These specific interventions proved no better than reassurance and support alone in decreasing daily hours of crying and maternal anxiety,” Dr. Patricia Parkin reported in the journal Pediatrics.
FAST TEST DETECTS NEWBORNS’ HEARING LOSS
A new hearing test that is 10 times faster to administer than current tests may be able to detect newborn hearing problems that are now being missed.
The otoacoustic emissions test, or OAE, is being evaluated by the University of Florida after a National Institutes of Health panel recommended that it be used to screen babies. The evaluation will help establish guidelines for large-scale use of the test.
The current test, called auditory brainstem response, takes 30 minutes to administer, and misses half the cases of hearing loss in infants. One in 1,000 newborns is deaf at birth. If hearing problems are not detected early, a child’s ability to learn speech and language is seriously impaired.
“Since OAE tests the full spectrum of sound frequencies, we will be able to screen, diagnose and treat an infant’s hearing problems more completely than with the current method,” said Dr. F. Joseph Kemker, University of Florida’s chief of audiology.
In the three-minute OAE test a tiny, sound-emitting probe is inserted in an ear. The probe stimu-lates a wide range of sounds from the inner ear, which are then picked up by a microphone, providing accurate information about the ear’s ability to hear.
GROUP CHECKS ON DRUGS ALREADY MARKETED
Once drugs are approved for use in the U.S., there is little effective follow-up of unexpected complications they may cause when prescribed for thousands of patients.
To close that gap, the State University of New York at Buffalo established the Drug Surveillance Network that monitors drug side effects from 1,100 clinical pharmacists and 522 acute-care hospitals.
“No matter how much time and money you spend on studying a drug before it’s marketed, you have to expect surprises,” said Thaddeus Grasela, director of Buffalo’s Center for Pharmacoepidemiology Research.
“Therefore, it’s very important that there be a mechanism in place to study a drug’s safety after it’s marketed.”
Supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry, the network has had a surprise of its own. It may be able to determine which patients may benefit most from costly new drugs, such as those being developed to treat blood poisoning.
At the top of the list would be patients who develop blood poisoining-the biggest killer of intensive care unit patients-as a result of respiratory tract infections.
EXERCISES FOUND TO AID IN CURBING OSTEOPOROSIS
Besides an adequate calcium intake, women may be able to prevent osteoporosis through weight-bearing exercises that strengthen back muscles, a Mayo Clinic study has found.
Previous studies showed that women in the 49 through 65 age range could benefit from this type of exercise.
The new study shows that women in the 29 through 40 age range also can develop stronger backs with weight-bearing exercise, but not from aerobic exercises.
The type of exercise is important. Women who develop and maintain strong backs early in life have a better chance of warding off osteoporosis later on, Dr. Russell Petrie reported in the journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
