Doctors in Britain have developed a procedure known as 'brainwashing' that could drastically reduce the risk of death or brain damage in very premature babies.
Charlie D'Agata ((DAGE-A-DA)) has the story from Bristol, England.Isaac's a pretty average nine year old....Isaac: 'I like doing computers, swimming...'...with one extraordinary start in life.Isaac was born thirteen weeks premature, then suffered a massive brain hemorrhage... Something that can happen with very premature babies.Steven Walker-Cox says, 'we didn't give up hope, we just prayed about it.'They decided their son would be one of the first babies to take part in a pioneering experiment in the hope of reducing the risk of severe brain damage.Doctors here warned Isaac's parents there's was only a one percent chance their baby would even survive.
When they learned about the new procedure they felt they had nothing to lose.Two tubes are inserted into the baby's brain.One continually drains the old blood, debris and toxins from the hemorrhage. The second tube slowly pumps clean, artificial fluid in.Gradually the fluid runs clear - indicating the brain damaging toxins are gone.
Professor Andrew whitelaw says, 'the inside of the brain is literally washed out. It's a bit like having a sink with a lot of coffee grounds in it which are clogging up the drainage of the sink.'In recently published study of 77 premature babies who had bleeding in the brain after birth, those treated with the technique were far less likely to suffer disabilities later in life.
Doctor's say Isaac's development speaks for itself.Isaac: 'I now have surfboard.'Reporter: 'you have a surfboard?'Isacc: Yeah! But I use it as a bodyboard because its faster and it skims across the water.And he's determined that nothing will hold him back.
source: keyc
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