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CASE NOTES
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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DrÌýMark PorterÌýgives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tacklesÌýa particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 min |
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PRESENTER |
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"I spend half my week practising medicine and the other half writing and talking about it as a GP in Gloucestershire. Working on Case Notes has been a boon for both me and my patients. One of the principal aims of the programme is to keep our listeners up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, and to accomplish that I get to interview a wide range of specialists at the cutting edge of medicine. A rare privilege that ensures our listeners aren't the only ones to learn something new."
Mark Porter
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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 Full programme transcript >>
Premature Babies
Recent research has found that nearly half of extremely premature babies develop a disability or learning difficulty.
In this episode of Case Notes Dr Mark Porter investigates and explores what is being done to help these children.
The study
The Epicure study, published in January, was the first major, long-term study of the effects of prematurity on children in later life.Ìý
The study found that nearly half of extremely premature babies who survive develop a disability or learning difficulty.
Another third had mild impairments, such as the need to wear glasses, by the time they reached six years old.
Mark's guest in the studio is the lead author of the study, Neil Marlow, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at the University of Nottingham.Ìý He tells Mark about the results andÌýwhat they could mean for parents and doctors.
Cerebral Palsy
One of the potential problems very premature babies could faceÌýis cerebral palsy.
MarkÌýtalks toÌýleading children's neurologist Dr Andrew Curran about the condition and why it can be difficult to diagnose.
And a parent whose child wasn't diagnosed with cerebral palsy until he was a toddler describes her experiences.
Case NotesÌýalsoÌýinvestigates some of the learning difficulties premature babies may experience as they grow up.
Ethical questions
Mark discusses the ethical questionsÌýsurroundingÌýtreatment for very premature babies with Professor Gorm Greisen of Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.
In Denmark, babies born before 26 weeks are not given neonatal intensive care.ÌýÌý
Case Notes considers the implications of this for the UK as a result of the Epicure study.
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RELATED LINKS
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 Woman's Hour: Premature Babies
Case Notes - previous programme on premature babies (15/4/03)
The Â鶹ԼÅÄ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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