Blood test may detect brain damage in babies shortly after birth

Written by Sharon Salt, Senior Editor

A team led by researchers at Imperial College London (UK), in collaboration with research groups in the USA, India and Italy, has developed a blood test that could detect which babies with oxygen deprivation at birth are at risk of developing certain neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy.   In India, which is where the research was conducted, there are reported to be around 0.5–1.0 million cases of birth asphyxia per year. If oxygen deprivation at birth occurs, this can cause brain injury that develops over several hours to months, which can subsequently lead to conditions such as...

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