HEALTH WATCH
Nursing Rats Are a Study in Sensitivity
And now, from the “So What Else Is New?” files of medical research comes a report that nursing mothers have increased sensitivity in the area where their babies suck.
The Journal of Neuroscience has announced that mother rats experience heightened sensation on their nipple-studded underbellies.
Human mothers who have felt the sometimes excruciating suction of hungry little mouths may not be surprised. But what may startle even the most sleep-deprived mom is that such stimulation appears to double the size of the area registering touch, pain and temperature.
Experts told Science News magazine that the study implies maternal behavior is more complicated than once thought. “A wonderful piece of work,” said Thomas R. Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health. “It only underscores the importance of sensory stimulation.” (And of mothers, we might add.)
Clearing Up Confusion About Donating Organs
Millions of Americans specify their wishes to become organ donors when they register for their driver’s licenses. Health experts say this well-meaning gesture has not been as successful as it could be because prospective donors don’t specify their wishes verbally to family members.
Although the donor card consent is legally binding, “no organ procurement agency will take organs without the family’s permission,” said Barbara Meltzer of the Regional Organ Procurement Agency of Southern California. It is not uncommon for family members to deny the donation request if the individual did not expressly stated his or her wishes.
Health officials are asking everyone who carries a donor card to also tell someone about their wishes.
For information or to receive an organ donor card, call ROPA of Southern California at (800) 933-0440.
Preparation May Help Cut Summer-Camp Injuries
A little planning and an early medical check-up may prevent a child’s injury at summer camp. You should:
* Visit the pediatrician a couple of months before camp begins.
* Inquire about camp activities. The American Academy of Pediatrics says injuries on trampolines can be catastrophic. Diving is also a potentially dangerous sport requiring correct facilities, careful instruction and constant supervision.
* Ask the camp director about the availability of medical personnel, location of the nearest hospital, and emergency procedures and policies.
* If a child is going to camp for a specific sport, obtain information on the instructors and consider a conditioning program for these activities.
Of course, all these preparatory motions won’t preclude a good case of poison ivy.
When Babies Swallow Things They Shouldn’t
Wonder why the piggy bank is never full? Babies and preschoolers favor pennies when it comes to swallowing foreign objects, but a new device enables doctors to retrieve such objects that lodge in the esophagus.
At the University of Pittsburgh, researchers have developed a technique that threads a balloon-tipped catheter through the nose or throat to the object blocking the esophagus. Once the tip is past the blockage, the balloon is inflated and the catheter withdrawn, bringing the object into the mouth where it can be retrieved.
The doctors switch to a catheter with a magnet tip to capture other commonly swallowed objects, such as small disk batteries and ball bearings. The catheter can’t be used for sharp objects, such as pins, which could be pushed into the wall of the esophagus.
* This health roundup, compiled by C.A. Wedlan from wire service reports, appears in Life & Style on Tuesdays.
