SWALLOWING artificial amniotic fluid might speed up bowel development in premature babies and help them cope with milk sooner.
Premature babies often have to be fed intravenously. In the womb, they would still be gulping down huge quantities of amniotic fluid. But aside from the fact it consists largely of fetal urine, not much was known about its make-up. Robert Christensen鈥檚 group at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in St Petersburg has discovered that the fluid actually contains many growth factors. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the growth factors in amniotic fluid that helps the intestine to develop,鈥� says Christensen.
The team has developed an artificial amniotic fluid dubbed 鈥淪AFEstart鈥� and given it to 87 babies to date. They appear to be improving more quickly, Christensen told New 杏吧原创, and his team hopes to confirm the observation soon with a controlled clinical trial.
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