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> Nearly every baby born in the United States gets a heel prick shortly after birth. Their newborn blood fills six spots on a special filter paper card. It is u
by djsumdog 9y ago
> Nearly every baby born in the United States gets a heel prick shortly after birth. Their newborn blood fills six spots on a special filter paper card. It is used to test baby for dozens of congenital disorders that, if treated early enough, could prevent severe disabilities and even death.
This almost feels like a scene taken right out of the movie Gattica.
- bigbugbag 9y agoGattaca. there's no i in dna sequencing. Gattaca took real world and extrapolated a little to give us a glimpse in the future so we know what to expect and not let it happen.
- roel_v 9y agoWhat? That newborns are checked for congenital diseases? How is that anything but normal?
- bigbugbag 9y agoWhy would it be normal ?
- cududa 9y agoIf you have technology to save a child’s life using simple modern medicine why would you not?
- DanBC 9y agoDoing the tests is one thing. Keeping the samples, and telling parents that the samples can't be destroyed, is something else. Also, do we know if this actually results in lower mortality?
- throwahey 9y agoI would lean towards no. I've seen state research based on flimsier data. In this case, infant mortality which has been going down historically could be connected to anything. Perhaps carbon levels in the atmosphere were the cause.
- mentalhealth 9y agoThe way many metabolic conditions work is that essential products are not synthesized, or toxic products are not cleared. These can cause unrecoverable damage within hours or days of birth if not treated. So, tests are performed to identify known metabolic conditions to prevent newborns from suffering unrecoverable brain/otherwise damage. This is generally known as "newborn screening" if you are curious to learn more.
- hardwaresofton 9y agoNot OP but maybe the question is more "why is the state doing this and keeping the samples" not "why is it useful"...
- manigandham 9y agoYou go to the doctor to get a physical checkup to see if anything's wrong, then get it treated. This is exactly the same thing, but done for newborns who are much more fragile and vulnerable to make sure they get care while already in the hospital, especially for any potentially severe or immediate issues.