European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Soothing effects of pacifiers by Sally Squires Washington Post can pacifiers help soothe premature Infantas they go through painful medical procedures a report from i he University of Ami suggests thai they can psychologist Tiffany Field and her colleagues at the University of Miami Lound thai if Hoy gave a pacifier to babies in the intensive care and before blood was drawn they could reduce the stress the babies Folt As measured by heart rate and by Earlw infants who sucked a pacifier during blood drawing also Trifid less in a related study babies who used pacifiers during Slomach tube feedings gained weight More quickly than babies without pacifiers As a result the inf ans who received Pacific is spent less time in the Inion live cd unit and had lower Hospital costs it seems As though the pacifiers helped Iho babes few  Fiel said the baby becomes ils own soother similar studies by University of Michigan school of nursing researcher Susan Jay show thai stroking and massaging in lands in the intensive care units also Helpert improve their condition nurses placed hands on i he head and Torso of each infant or 45 minutes a Day during a to Day period by Day six. The babies needed considerably less oxygen than the infants who were not stroked and massaged. Also decreased by the hands on approach Tho startle response and fist clenching of the infants finally in a study of 10 premature in lands in intensive Caro a Nils Field and tier Collaborator or. Saul Schanberg at Duke University coupled massaging with a kind of infant physical therapy where they moved Iho child s arms and logs by a six the 20 specially Ira cd infants gained 45 percent More weight than the 20 control babies. We though thai the weight Gam was related to eating More calories Field said but in Lack. We found that there was no difference Between the groups Field and her colleagues then investigated if the premature infants might to less Active and thus Burn fewer calories which would help account for the weight Gam in fact. He babies Are More  she sad Al teas during Iho 45-Minule observation period daily it s unclear what s happening one hypothesis Massage and physical activity May help premature infants use their calories More Eli Cinelly. Which could help explain the weight gain a University of Miami report Sugge is infants Benefit from pacifiers. Healthy but Short probing human growth byway Teyoung United press International Osh is in the seventh Grade but looks like a fourth Grayfer his coach dissuade him from trying out Lor soccer his Leacher complains he is immature and other boys his age carry him across the playground against his will. The 12-year-old, a Case study in the Liles of the human growth foundation of Bethesda. Mys healthy but Short. Some paediatricians say youngsters such As Josh should be medically treated with hormones to prevent psychological damage that May plague them for life. Others argue that Short children should a reassured they Are Normal and left to their own growing patterns this is a real ethical debate thai has bean raging Ever since the introduction of synthetic growth hormones said or Harris e Burstin assistant professor of paediatrics at the new York University medical school. Do you make a healthy bul Short child tall or do you work on the parents and teachers to Ireat the child normally and not Lei their anxieties make the child anxious " according to doctors a Small percentage of Short children suffer irom hormone imbalance disease or congenital disorders present at birth thai it and to dwarfism. Most of Tho world s Short children either suffer irom malnutrition or Are genetically predisposed to Short stature doctors said. Worldwide i would say to s  Burstin said. In More developed countries or areas you see parents concerned about children who Are just Plain  doctors say parents can Tell if their child is growing at a healthy rate by measuring their child s height periodically. A healthy baby will grow 7 to 10 inches in the first Yser of Fife followed by 4 to 5 inches during Nifte second from age 2 to puberty children should grow 2 of 2vi inches every year according to Tho human growth foundation a non profit research Center. Children should go through a Senes of growth spurts during adolescence that can occur anytime Between Ages 12 and 1b, a foundation report states. After that adult height is usually set Lor Hie. It s a very Good idea to measure a child Oltan to pick up abnormalities said or. Robert m blizzard chairman of paediatrics Al the University of Virginia medical school. Children who Slop growing or grow less than 2 inches a year should be evaluated by a Padial Ician doctors said the problem May be serious either caused by an undiagnosed disease or a deficiency in a key hormone responsible Lor growth children with hormone deficiencies can be treated with a synthetic growth hormone created in the Laboratory a few years ago and approved by the food and drug adminis Lvalion last year. Injections of the hormone cause children to grow. But the hormone also matures a child s delicate Bones causing them to use together earlier than they would normally As a result children ire aled Wilh the hormone May be slightly Shorter As adults than they would have been had they grown normally tests Are still ongoing to evaluate the synthetic hormone they said some doctors fear the increasing available of he synthetic growth hormone will Toad doctors to use in on children who Are healthy growing their 2 inches a year bul who Are genetically Short i would not recommend such children be treated Wilh hormones Burz Ard said. Just because a child s parents want him or her to be taller is no reason to give him  according to doctors the growth hormone has several Side effects that make it a appropriate for any child except those with deficiencies doses of growth hormones can cause Bones to grow poorly and Lead to diabetes. It creates hormone imbalances that could cause a child to mature too rapidly creating More anguish. The doctors urged concerned parents and teachers to evaluate their own behaviour toward Short children. Many adults lend to Treal Small children As it they were younger doctors said. The children realizing people expect them to acl younger than their age often do so. Ii s usually tall parents who Are most concerned. Rubbing their anxieties Oil on their child Burstin said.1 i Iell them life is a Bell curve and not everyone is going to end up in the  monday september 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17