Well I never, medical science has prevailed once more it seems, or so I read in New Scientist magazine. Yes in as little as four years time there could be a new treatment available to overcome the issue of PROM. (premature rupture of the membranes)
PROM is the cause of roughly 40% of early deliveries in the UK so if this new treatment is successful then it could potentially save the lives of thousands of premature babies across the globe.
By all accounts it involves making patches out of stem cells that can then be used to reseal the water bag.
Now if this sounds to you a bit like a white coat version of pin the tail on the donkey then fear not because surgeons intend to use key hole surgery to carry out the procedure.
Apparently the stem cells needed to create this patch will be gathered from other women's placenta's .
Weird isn't it?
'Excuse me, I was just wondering,could I borrow a bit of your placenta?'
'Yeah sure..no probs.. I'm not using it any more anyway '
:-)
It makes you wonder though, why PROM happens in the first place.There were a couple of theories flying around in my case.
One Ob-Gyn actually suggested that Smidge might have done it herself with her nails, but this explanation doesn't make any sense to me and I don't think Smidge would have done it. I mean just look at her..
FALSELY ACCUSED
No. the second explanation rang more true to me, that the water bag broke down because of excessive bleeding during pregnancy. The enzymes in the blood, intended to break down clots, broke down the water bag by accident causing PROM.
Either way,the point is that this patch might work for someone like me in a future pregnancy.
Please note the emphasis on the 'like me', that is to say that another person, similar to me may benefit from such a surgery.
But another pregnancy? me? No, definitely not me.
No comments:
Post a Comment