Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Every little bit helps

Teaching the developed world that fast and neat isn't always better:


Delaying clamping the umbilical cord at birth by roughly two minutes can give newborns a health boost that carries through the early months of their lives, a new study suggests.

Late clamping, as it is called, allows more blood from the cord and the placenta to flow into the infant, raising iron levels and decreasing the risk of anemia in the first weeks and months of life, McMaster University researchers suggested in the article, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

[snip]

Individually they present conflicting evidence for the debate. But pooled together, Hutton said, the data show a statistically significant lowering of anemia rates in babies who were clamped late, but no real increased risk of serious side-effects in those same babies.

"And the significance is not just at the time the baby's born; it lasts quite a long period of time," she said from Hamilton.

"The iron stores were increased [up] to six months of age. Basically you can imagine it's giving your baby a better start."

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4 comments:

mapaghimagsik said...

Hey Elroon,

Its completely off topic, but you totally have to *check this out* Its an examination of super-hero comics and the fates of male and female characters.

I'd love to get your take on the analysis, and its especially fun for me being a comic writer, though the superhero genre isn't really my cup of tea...at least for the writing I do.

http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/index.html

ellroon said...

I was a comics collector in my teens, my stepsons were, and now my daughter is. Will look and report in a bit!

mapaghimagsik said...

Take your time. Its *chewy* as in the "good discussion" kind of way. I haven't gone through all the responses, but the responses from professionals in the field are thoughtful. I don't agree with all of them, but at least they took the topic seriously and really kind of bounced it around a bit.

To me, there are additional elements that seem to fit into our entertainment media in general, and ties into Newert's musings on violence.

Again, didn't mean to just threadcrap, because the discovery about the umbilical cord is *very* cool too.

ellroon said...

Home after multitudinous errands...

I haven't heard the term 'threadcrap' and think I will resist using it. OT is totally fine, and I don't give a hoot whether comments match the post.

Anyway...off to read stuff!