The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Early detection of disability in newborns is the key: expert

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 01, 2007
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Karnataka - Bangalore

Early detection of disability in newborns is the key: expert

Staff Reporter

‘A specialist can detect disability in a baby as young as two weeks’

Bangalore: Early screening of neonates and diagnosis in high-risk groups is important to prevent and effectively treat development disabilities, Sarojini Budden, senior paediatrician and development specialist from the Oregon Health and Sciences University and Paediatric Development Programme, Oregon, has said.

She said that a qualified and experienced specialist could detect that something was wrong in a newborn as young as two weeks.

“Having a neonatal screening programme that looks at high-risk factors such as possibility of metabolic and chromosomal abnormalities, risk factors for the mother and so on, which is implemented by a team of therapists can help in the early detection of development disabilities, including autism and cerebral palsy. The screening can be done by nurses, health workers or members of the community if it is simplified so that a larger population can be reached,” she said speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a pre-conference workshop preceding the second national conference of the Indian Academy of Cerebral Palsy that begins here on December 1.

Dr. Sarojini and her colleagues at the university have developed a neonatal screening programme called “Paediatric Evaluation and Diagnostic Scale” that is being implemented through a simple questionnaire that is given to families in Oregon State.

The workshop looked at cerebral palsy from infancy to adulthood stages.

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