It is not new to use caffeine or similar to regulate breathing in premature babies, what is news are the possible parallel benefits, an improvement in their neurological development in their first 21 months of life.
A study of more than two thousand babies born before term between 1999 and 2004, weighing between 500 and 1,250 grams, concludes that Caffeine treatment prevents neurological deterioration in premature babies.
Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton (Canada) treated children under study with caffeine or placebo, the follow-up of children is extended to five years, and data obtained so far show that 46% of children Babies who have received placebo have developed some neurological disability or have died, while 60% of the children who received caffeine showed a favorable development when they were about to turn three. The coordinator of the research group, Barbara Schmidt, explains that by treating very premature babies with caffeine, artificial ventilation (assisted breathing) can be removed much earlier, and as we said not long ago, respirators can cause other problems of health, as the researcher says "Ventilation is a double-edged sword because although it saves their lives it also produces immature lung lesions, very susceptible to damage."
The study has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, where you will find all the information about it.
