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hello to my syber-sibs aside from the fact that there is a small reference to hormones i couldn't resist commenting on this news article in light of the recent thread on 'experts' duh-uhh! ~~~ It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best to at least rearrange their prejudices once in a while. Luther Burbank ~~~ your parkie sis in just another paradise janet -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Babies do feel pain -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 Nando.net Copyright 1997 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 29, 1997 00:39 a.m. EDT) - For anyone who has heard the plaintive wail of a 2-month-old getting his first set of vaccination shots, it may be hard to understand that only 10 years ago doctors maintained babies did not feel pain. Only 20 years ago, surgeons performed heart surgery on newborns without anesthesia. Even today, countless boys are circumcised without a penile block or a local anesthetic. All of these painful procedures occurred because doctors believed babies didn't feel pain because their nervous systems were too undeveloped. They also feared the babies' tiny bodies could not withstand the side effects of painkillers. Not true. Not at all. "Pain pathways are mature and fully functional at birth," Philadelphia anesthesiologist F. Michael Ferrante said at a recent American Medical Association briefing in New York City. "They really do feel pain and it needs to be taken care of." That's exactly the conclusion of pediatrician Evelyn Reis at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where she now urges pediatricians to first apply an anesthetic spray or cream on the skin before children get their vaccination shots. She became convinced of children's pain three years ago when she gave inoculations at the hospital's evening clinics at Child Care Center. The children screamed and screamed. Many doctors use distraction as a way of easing a child's pain. At Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Dr. Richard Solomon, a pediatrician, has helped write a course to help children manage pain through breathing, imagery and distraction. Reis, also a proponent of using distraction to help children cope with pain, undertook a study using two topical anesthetics to numb the vaccination area on children ages 4 and 6. One anesthetic was a cream called EMLA, and the other a vapocoolant spray. With Dr. Richard Holubkov, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health, Reis divided the young patients into three groups: One distracted only with a colorful pinwheel; the other with the cream and the pinwheel; and the third with the spray and the pinwheel. They found that the cream needs an hour to take effect and costs about $6 a dose. It lasts longer, however, than the spray, which numbs the inoculation area within a minute and costs about 50 cents a spritz. "We found that with the treatment and the distraction the children were in half as much pain as those who just had the pinwheels for distraction," Reis said. The doctors measured pain levels by the children's body movements and by how long they cried after the shots. "Pain is so subjective, I know," Reis said. "But we videotaped the children to see and that helped us with our measurements." The cream and the spray worked equally well. She is beginning a study on how to ease pain in a child receiving intravenous treatments. The development of continuous blood pressure monitors, more sophisticated computers and smaller instruments have enabled doctors to make major strides in preventing and alleviating pain in children. In the last 10 years, doctors have learned that children and infants can tolerate narcotics, such as morphine, after major surgery -- as long as they are monitored correctly. "These are very real issues for children, and we cannot ignore them," said Dr. Peter Davis, anesthesiologist and pain management specialist. Reis, who has been lobbying pediatricians to use the topical painkillers before giving children inoculations, suggested that parents become their children's advocates. Some studies have shown that children who undergo painful treatments early have lower pain tolerance later, doctors said. Hormones are released that stress the heart, lungs and brain. "Painful experiences early in life can have a cumulative effect," Reis said. "Isn't it horrifying? It's unnecessary pain." By ELLEN M. PERLMUTTER, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/072997/health30_12003.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask]