hurts, don't it?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Apr 07, 2006

Another story that, for some reason, didn't make it to the front page of the New York Times this week. Premature babies feel pain.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience by a team from University College London, analyzed brain scans taken on premature babies when blood was being drawn from them. The results found that babies as young as 24 weeks after pregnancy can feel pain and the researchers hope the study will prompt new pain treatment methods.

"This is the first time we have actually measured pain activity in the human brain," lead researcher Professor Maria Fitzgerald said. ...

In the study, researchers scanned the brains of 18 babies born anywhere from 25 to 45 weeks after conception. The scans were performed before, during, and after nurses drew blood from their heels. The scans found an increase in blood flow and oxygen to the brain indicating the babies felt the pain.

Via LifeNews.