Preliminary research conducted by Children’s Hospital, Boston indicates that the Alzheimer’s drug, Namenda, may help to protect premature infants from developing cerebral palsy. The study has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

During testing with rats, researchers discovered that the rats that were treated with Namenda suffered less brain damage after loss of blood and oxygen to the brain.

Often, premature infants suffer from severe brain damage due to birth trauma. The birth trauma results in a loss of blood and oxygen to the brain, which can cause serious life-long disabilities, such as cerebral palsy.

Additional testing of Namenda needs to be completed.

Birth injuries that result in cerebral palsy can be caused by negligence on the part of the medical staff. Birth trauma attorneys are working on seeking out negligent doctors and facilities to prevent birth injury from occurring.

A recent study was conducted connecting babies born prematurely, or having a low birth weight, with a greater risk of autism. The study was conducted by researchers at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is being published in the June edition of Pediatrics.

The study considered babies born at 33 weeks to be premature and babies with a weight of less than 5 pounds to be low.

The study involved 565 children with autism born between 1986 and 1993. They were then divided into three groups: those with autism only, those with autism and one developmental disease, and those with autism and more than one developmental disease.

They were then compared to children in a control group, where they analyzed the connection between birth weight, birth date, and autism.  The study proved that the combination and levels of premature birth and low birth weight have different effects on the risk of autism and other developmental diseases. 

In both boys and girls, low birth weight heightens the risk of autism by 2-3 times. In girls with low birth weight, the risk of autism and mental retardation together was four times as great. In premature babies, there was not a significant influence in boys, but the risk of autism in girls increased.

The study and research conducted suggested that babies with a low birth weight or those born premature should be consistently tested for autism and other possible developmental diseases at 18, 24 and 30 months.

Premature birth has also been linked to a heightened risk of birth trauma. Pregnant women should see a physician regularly in order to monitor the risk of premature birth. A physician or medical staff may be held responsible by a birth trauma attorney if their negligence resulted in serious injuries to the child or mother during a premature birth that could have been prevented.