Originally published September 4 2005
Newborn babies should undergo hearing tests
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Every day in the U.S., 33 babies are born with hearing problem,s and around 3 leave the hospital unnoticed. An early notice of deafness can help the child improve his or her hearing skills.
Screening all newborns for hearing problems could make a big difference in kids' lives, a British study shows.
Every day, approximately 33 U.S. babies are born with significant permanent hearing loss and three newborns leave the hospital with undetected deafness or hearing loss, according to a news release from the Deafness Research Foundation.
The sooner those problems can be identified, the sooner kids can start programs to help them develop to their full potential.
A new report on hearing tests for babies appears in The Lancet.
The study focuses on 66 7- to 9-year-olds with permanent childhood hearing impairment in both ears.
Thirty-five of the kids were born before screening hearing tests were given to all babies in their area.
Only 11 of them (31%) got a referral for hearing problems before they were 6 months old.
The other 31 kids in the group were born when all babies in their area got hearing tests.
More of them (23 babies, or 74%) were referred for hearing problems before they were 6 months old.
"Universal newborn screening leads to early referral of permanent childhood hearing impairment," write the researchers.
They included Colin Kennedy of the pediatric neurology department at England's Southampton General Hospital.
The researchers plan to check on how early intervention affected the kids' speech and language development, as well as the costs of those efforts.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml