MgSO4 to help Reduce Cerebral Palsy Risk

MgSO4 to  decrease cerebral palsy risk in premature babies

Giving magnesium sulfate, or Epsom salt, which is "a cheap and widely available drug, to pregnant women at high risk of premature delivery, cut the risk of cerebral palsy in their babies by nearly half," according to a study presented at a meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Although approximately "one-third of cerebral palsy cases are caused by early preterm birth," researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found that administering magnesium sulfate intravenously could not only "halt [early] contractions" and preeclampsia, but it is also believed to reduce blood vessel constriction in the infants' brains.

        Still, more studies are "needed to understand how the treatment works," . Researcher John Thorp, M.D., a professor of obstetrics, also said that the therapy did not protect children "from more subtle brain damage that affected intellectual and cognitive function." Nonetheless, that does not deflect the importance of the finding, because "virtually every delivery room in the United States is already stocked with magnesium sulfate solutions," which could greatly reduce incidences of the "extremely disabling disorder," stated Thorp.

        For the "government-funded study, researchers gave an infusion of magnesium sulfate to" 2,241 women "who were 24 to 31 weeks pregnant," and "about to give birth to a premature baby," the AP (2/1, Nano) notes. The team administered "either the compound or a fake solution," measuring six grams for 30 minutes and two grams for the preceding hour, to the participants. The researchers then examined the children for "signs of cerebral palsy at birth, and over the next two years."

"This is one of the most promising breakthroughs in the management of high-risk pregnancies in more than 30 years."