Preemies less sensitive to 'hot and cold sensations'

London, United Kingdom, December 28: A new study conducted by the researchers at the University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom suggests that premature babies, also known as “preemies”, are less sensitive to temperature change later in life.

Babies born before the due date, that is those born between 24th and 37th weeks of gestation, are termed as born premature or “preterm babies”. Premature birth makes these babies susceptible to infection, jaundice and they need special care for their continued existence.

The team of scientists found that babies born 14 weeks premature were less sensitive to temperature -- hot and cold; in short their ability to sense heat and cold was compromised.

Doctors have already known that premature babies are at an increased risk of disability and various illnesses throughout childhood and in later life, but what they didn’t knew was that premature delivery also affects sensory perception.

For the study, researchers tracked 43 children, aged 11, who were born before 24 week gestation period in 1995 and tested their responses to different sensations, such as touch and temperature.

The researchers found that as compared to group of children who were born at full term, the preterm babies were less sensitive to heat and cold and their tolerance for pain was much higher because they were exposed to many early painful surgical operations.

The children who had undergone surgical procedures as babies were particularly less sensitive to temperature and touch on or near scars related to chest surgery. The researchers said that the same nerve fibers transmit temperature and pain and any damage to these fibers can affect the child's perception of pain and temperature.

Dr. Suellen Walker, one of the researcher at the University College London, said, "The pain mechanisms in our bodies are plastic - that is, injury and nerve activity can alter them, but this is particularly true in early life when the nervous system is still developing. Our research aims to understand how responses to injury change."

The findings of the study, which appears in the journal Pain, are extremely important as increasingly more babies are being born prematurely globally.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths related to premature births has hit a record high, almost 50 percent of the infant deaths occur in babies born before the 32 weeks gestation. More than 25 children die each week in the United Kingdom due to complications arising from premature birth.