Gel treatment helps newborns avoid blood sugar dangers: New Zealand study

A simple dab of sugar gel in a newborn's mouth could help prevent thousands of babies from developing a common, potentially dangerous condition, according to a New Zealand study out Friday.

The inexpensive dextrose gel rubbed inside the mouth an hour after birth could prevent a baby from getting neonatal hypoglycaemia, which involved a sustained drop in blood sugar levels after birth, said scientists at the University of Auckland.

As many as a third of babies born in New Zealand were at risk of this condition, which, left untreated, can cause developmental brain damage and lowered education outcomes later in life.

At-risk babies were those born smaller or larger than usual, preterm babies and babies whose mothers had any form of diabetes.

Low blood sugar often required babies to go into an intensive or special care unit, separating mother and baby just as they are trying to establish breastfeeding in the critical first days after birth.

Trials showed that 41 percent of 277 babies who received a dose of dextrose developed hypoglycaemia in the first 48 hours of life, compared with 52 percent of 138 babies who received placebo gel.

Professor Jane Harding, the research team leader, also led research that pioneered the use of the same dextrose gel as a treatment for newborns with neonatal hypoglycaemia, now a routine treatment in many New Zealand hospitals and in a growing number of hospitals overseas.

"We thought if it works well to treat babies with low blood sugar, could we use it to prevent babies getting low blood sugars," Harding said in a statement.

"If we could do that, we might reduce the number of blood tests they need, reduce the amount of angst that families experience, and potentially even prevent brain damage." Endit