A Michigan State University (MSU) epidemiologist is leading a $1.9 million, two-year, statewide study to uncover the causes of cerebral palsy, the most common disabling motor disorder in children with annual health costs of $12 billion.
The research team, led by MSU’s Nigel Paneth, will conduct a study using Michigan’s newborn blood spot data, which have been archived on all live births in the state since 1986. About 440 families are expected to participate, representing communities throughout Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
“Unfortunately, we have made very limited progress in finding the causes of cerebral palsy,” Paneth says. “It is likely that a variety of different problems can lead to the disorder, most of these operating before birth. While much prior thinking has focused on birth injuries or other difficulties of labor and delivery, we think other factors must be important contributors.”
Researchers will focus on three potential pathways to cerebral palsy: hormonal; inflammation or infection; and blood-clotting.
Making the project possible is the newborn genetic screening program set up decades ago in Michigan, as in all states, to test newborns for genetic abnormalities that can lead to death or mental retardation. About 30 to 40 diagnostic tests are performed on every newborn’s blood collected for this purpose and spotted onto filter paper soon after birth.
Children with cerebral palsy will be recruited in the Lansing, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor areas. Besides the newborn blood data, after obtaining the participant’s permission, researchers will interview mothers about pregnancy exposures and analyze health data recorded at birth.
Source: MSU
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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