WELLINGTON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Stabilizing blood sugar levels in newborns with hypoglcemia, or low blood sugar, could help prevent one of the leading causes of infant brain damage, a pioneering New Zealand-led study said Thursday.
The study, led by the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland, was the first of its kind and followed 404 children who were born at risk of hypoglycaemia, said researchers.
Lead researcher Distinguished Professor Jane Harding said it found that if doctors treated a baby with hypoglycemia to keep the blood sugar above a safety threshold, there was no increase in the risk of brain damage.
This threshold, already widely used, was 2.6 millimoles per litre or 47 milligrams per decilitre.
The study also found that babies with blood sugar levels that were higher than usual appeared to be at risk of brain damage.
"Hypoglycemia is the single most preventable cause of brain damage in newborns. Up to 30 percent of newborns are at risk; 15 percent will be affected to at least some degree, and around 10 percent end up admitted to intensive care," Harding said in a statement.
"We know that a baby with a blood glucose level that is too low for too long will suffer neurological damage, but there has been debate about just how low, for how long, and in which babies," she said.
"This is the first clear evidence that treating babies to keep their blood sugar above a widely-used safety intervention threshold does indeed protect them."
The researchers also found that babies who had blood glucose levels that rose too high or fluctuated widely during the first 48 hours of their lives were more likely to have brain damage.
"It may be that it's not only important to keep blood glucose levels from dropping too low, but also to keep them from swinging too high, too fast, but we need further studies to confirm that link," said Harding.
The study also shows clear benefits to the current clinical practice in many parts of the world, which was to test at-risk infants regularly, and the introduction of continuous monitoring was not necessary.
