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Research has suggested that a drug used to treat cancer can stop contractions and may prevent premature labour. This research was carried out by a team from Newcastle University, they tested the drug Trichostatin A on tissue taken from 36 women undergoing a caesarean. They claim that it worked by increasing the levels of a protein that controls muscle relaxation.
Preterm labour and birth is the single biggest cause of death in infants in the developed world, around 1,500 babies die in the UK every year. There are a number of drugs which are used to attempt to stop early labour but research has shown them to have serious side effects.
The researchers got permission to take samples of the muscles of women undergoing caesarean sections at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. They exposed the muscle to TSA, a dfrug used to treat cancer, and measured the effects on both spontaneous contractions and those induced by the labour drug, oxytocin.
They recorded an average 46% reduction in contractions for the spontaneously contracting tissue and an average 54% reduction in the oxytocin induced contractions.
Professor Jane Norman, a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG), said: “At the moment, it’s not possible to treat preterm labour effectively. We only have drugs that delay it by 24 hours or so – not enough to deliver the baby safely. There are experts who say that until doctors understand the cause of premature labour there is no way to develop a successful a treatment.
Of course as with any research there are those who feel that premature labour and birth can’t be or shouldn’t be prevented as the body has started labour early for a reason therefore doctors shouldn’t mess with nature. However mothers who have lost a baby because they were born prematurely would disagree and would claim that their child’s life should have been saved.
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls says that inspectors should not interfere in private arrangements between friends looking after each other’s children.
As you are all aware of the recent case where 2 policewomen who were told that helping each other with babysitting was illegal if they were not registered.
To clarify reciprocal childcare arrangements between parents where there is no payment involved are not a matter for regulation. Mr Balls says that he has now asked Ofsted not to interpret these rules as applying to arrangements which have no “financial reward” and are for “mutual aid”. “When parents make their own reciprocal childcare arrangements with friends they retain full control and responsibility for the care their children receive
To be honest this whole drama seems a bit mad. Who parents leave their children with is up to them and when friends help each other out they should not be penalised for this. The way I see it the way this government is going people are going to end up to scared to help each other and so society will become divided. Which can’t be a good thing,
American researchers have found that children can be taught to use their imagination to tackle frequent bouts of abdominal pain. It is thought that the technique works particularly well due to their fertile imaginations. The research suggests that 1 in 5 children suffer with frquent abdominal pain with no identifiable cause. There were 30 children aged between 6 and 15 in the study half had 20 minute sessions of “guided imagery” this is where the patient is prompted to imagine things which will reduce their discomfort. The other half had the mainstream care.
It is thought that the treatment is very positive because it is inexpensive and is able to be self administered, which potentially opens the door for easily enhancing treatment outcomes for a lot of children sufering from frequent stomach aches.
This technique is an amazing breakthrough because this means that children can be treated by other means instead of drugs which is definately a positive. Also it means that more children can be treated without massive waiting lists which can be a definate plus for the NHS and the parents of the children who are suffering from abdominal pain and there is nothing they can do