Epsom Salt Cut Cerebral Palsy Rate in Half Among Preemies

[Guest guest]

I found the following article quite interesting. I wonder what is

going on in these cases from a TCM perspective. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- An infusion of Epsom salt

(magnesium sulfate) given just before delivery to pregnant women at

high risk for preterm birth cut the rate of cerebral palsy among these

newborns in half, U.S. researchers report.

 

The study included 2,241 women at 20 sites across the United States.

All the women were at high risk for giving birth prematurely --

between 24 and 31 weeks into their pregnancies. The women were

randomly selected to receive either an intravenous infusion of

magnesium sulfate solution or a placebo.

 

The infusions, started when delivery seemed imminent, began at a rate

of 6 grams infused over 20 to 30 minutes, followed by a maintenance

infusion of 2 grams per hour. If delivery didn't occur within 12

hours, the infusion was halted and resumed later when delivery once

again seemed about to happen.

 

There was no significant difference in the risk of infant death

between the women who received the magnesium sulfate and those who

received the placebo. However, moderate or severe cerebral palsy

occurred about half as often in infants born to women in the magnesium

sulfate group (1.9 percent), compared to those in the placebo group

(3.5 percent).

 

" This is one of the most promising breakthroughs in the management of

high-risk pregnancies in more than 30 years, " study co-author Dr. John

Thorp, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of

North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said in a prepared statement.

 

He noted that " virtually every delivery room in the United States is

already stocked with magnesium sulfate solutions that are given to

pregnant women during childbirth for other reasons. "

 

" So, what we have learned from this study is that we have a cheap,

widely available treatment already in hand that cuts in half the risk

of babies being born with an extremely disabling disorder. This is a

tremendously exciting development, " Thorp said.

 

The findings were expected to be presented Thursday at the Society for

Maternal-Fetal Medicine annual meeting, in Dallas. The study was

conducted for the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network of the U.S.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

[Guest guest]

whrn looking at studies in journals, it is important to take some

factors into consideration. here are some, but not all, of the

things you should check for

 

1. sample size. the larger the sample size, the more accurate the

results

2. statistical significance - were the results analyzed to find that

the findings were not due to chance?

3. randomization - were the participants randomized into groups? this

can help to prevent many results due to extraneous variables (other

causes other than the thing being studied)

4. study design - was it a well designed study? was care taken to

make sure that other " extraneous " variables did not influence the

findings?

 

make sure it was not a correllation study. any two variables can be

correllated, and it doesn't really tell you anything, other than that

two things can be plotted on a graph. it also tells you nothing

about what possible causes were for the findings.

 

i think that some of these things should be taught at acupuncture

colleges... especially nowadays, it's pretty important to be able to

understand what's happening.