Baby & Pregnancy Ultrasound Scanning 3D/4D
ENSRICHED MILK AND HIGHER IQ’S IN PRETERM BABIES
February 2008
Recently published in the American journal Pediatric Research, a study conducted by researchers at University College of London’s Institute of Child Health has found that infants’ brain development is affected in the long term by early nutrition.
The UCL institute, working in partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital and Harvard medical school, has been observing children born several weeks prematurely since the 1980’s. After birth, some babies were given enriched formula milk containing micronutrients, protein and high fat content. Others were given ordinary formula or bank breast milk in a randomized trial lasting four weeks. Although work has yet to be carried out to see if such methods have similar effects on full term babies, the results of the study are very encouraging.The children were tested at the ages of 18 months and at around 8 years old. The findings of these developmental and IQ tests revealed that there was a noticeable performance difference in favour of those given the high nutrient diet. At the 8 year stage of testing, the boys who had been given the enriched milk had verbal IQ skills 12 points higher than the boys who had received standard nutrients.
The latest findings reveal physical evidence of brain development. The children were tested again at around 16 years of age. This time the tests included MRI scans which showed that the size of an area of the brain known as the caudate nucleus appeared to be affected by the nutritional supplements. The caudate nucleus is known to be associated with the brain’s memory and learning system, with particular regard to the processing of feedback. One of the other findings in the latest round of tests was that the girls in the high nutrient group had a 9 point IQ skills advantage over their standard fed counterparts, whereas the high nutrient boys now had less of lead over theirs, being just 7 points.
The micronutrients in the enhanced feed include calcium, phosphorous, iron, zinc and copper. At this stage it is not known if just one of the elements is responsible for the results, or a combination of several. Although scientists have been aware of a link between early nutrition and brain development for some time, the results of these recent tests help to show possible proof that nutrition can affect actual brain structure.
Established in 1945, the Institute of Child Health does research into several key areas of child wellbeing including Cardiorespiratory sciences, Cancer, Infection and Immunity as well as Biochemical and Nutritional sciences. There are currently 472 members of staff and it has many PHD and other students studying there. It supports 46 professorships.
About Inner-Vision Ultrasound
Inner-Vision Ultrasound has been set up by a husband and wife team of healthcare professionals, Richard and Catherine Warriner. Richard trained as a sonographer at Leeds in 1996. He worked at Pinderfields hospital Wakefield, Queens Park Hospital Blackburn, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Liverpool Womens Hospital as a sonographer before joining General Elecctric as an ultrasound applications specialist. In this role Richard travelled throughout the north of England demonstrating and teaching the latest ultrasound techniques to sonographers and doctors in obstetrics and general ultrasound. It was with his time at GE healthcare that Richard was introduced to the Voluson 730. It is the class leader in 3d/4d technology and as such the only choice for Inner-Vision. Richard has lectured to ultrasound students at the universities of Liverpool, Leeds and Lancaster. Catherine is a Midwife, gaining her degree in Midwifery from Newcastle University in 1996. After working in the north east for a short while after qualification, Catherine returned home to Lancashire and has now worked at Queens Park hospital, Blackburn, for the last eight years. She has been a community midwife, worked in an antenatal clinic and has had extensive experience on the antenatal wards.
