Recently, new research was published about cooling therapy and that seizures are common in the rewarming process. In the quality improvement process, this is welcomed data to look at how clinicians can look at ways to reduce seizures during the rewarming process, to treat and control them, leading to improved quality of life.
Sometimes they may be having seizures because of the level of impact on the baby, and sometimes it could be as a part of the cooling process. Neonatal brain cooling is a pretty complex process, but it is still the BEST therapeutic intervention for babies who qualify that reduces death and disability in neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy.
Unfortunately, sometimes the lay press, or blogs looking for clicks, don’t get the interpretation right. And, it could have serious consequences giving parents a misinformed view on the importance of cooling for their babies. Soon after the research was published, BabyGaga posted a recap of the research study. Unfortunately, the headline is scary, and misleading, and the article misquotes research of others, and misinterprets the context of the published research further.
We implore sites like BabyGaga to do a better job at covering such complex topics, as their impact could unnecessarily cause a family to opt out of the best and currently only treatment for HIE, shown to reduce death and disability, or exacerbate their stress and anxiety.
Families, if you are reading this in the NICU and your baby is in cooling, you’re doing the right thing to make decisions to help them the best you can, and with the best that’s out there!
If you are a writer looking for more information to fact-check research with HIE, please reach out to us at Hope for HIE. Our access to the leading experts, including authors of the latest studies in HIE, is unparalleled and we want to ensure you have the most accurate information and understanding of the topic you are covering.
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