Long-term brain damage resulting from neonatal hypoglycaemia can be warded off with proper treatment such as later education and dextrose gel after birth, new studies have found.
The study is the first of its kind to show that stabilising blood sugar levels in neonatal hypoglycaemia prevents brain damage.
Hypoglycaemia is very common, affecting more than one in six babies. Since glucose is the main energy source for the brain and the body, untreated low blood sugar can cause adverse effects on a child’s neurodevelopment up to the age of 4.5 years old.
While hypoglycaemia is known to alter early development, there has been a significant gap in our understanding of how hypoglycaemia can alter a child’s development after early childhood. A study in JAMA investigated the long-term impact on brain development in mid-childhood – ages 9 to 10 – and found that, compared to peers, there was no significant difference in academic outcomes for children exposed to hypoglycaemia as newborns.
“Rich pre-school and school experiences may help a child’s brain to re-organise and improve their academic abilities up to the developmental milestones of their peers,” said Professor Ben Thompson, who is part of the research team.
Following 480 children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia, researchers assessed each child at aged nine to 10 in five key areas: academic achievement, executive function, visual-motor function, psychosocial adaptation, and general health. All child participants were involved in previous studies, providing researchers with information on their neuro-development outcomes at two and 4.5 years old.
This ability to catch-up in neuro-cognitive function could be because of the brain’s plasticity, the researchers suggest.
“It’s a big relief to know that babies who are born with and treated for a condition as common as hypoglycaemia are not likely to suffer long-term brain damage,” Prof Thompson said.
The researchers have also continued studying the efficacy of dextrose gel to treat low blood sugar in the first 48-hours of a newborn’s life, avoiding the need for babies to go to newborn intensive care units immediately after delivery.
In an additional study published in JAMA, the team assessed the later risks of dextrose gel as a treatment for hypoglycaemia in infancy, and found change to the risk of neuro-sensory impairment at age two. This treatment continues to be widely used in a growing number of countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Source: University of Waterloo
