The Most Common Newborn Medical Tests

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The Most Common Newborn Medical Tests
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In order to discover, cure, and prevent serious health issues that could endanger your newborn baby’s health and life, you must go for newborn medical tests. There are some mandatory and optional birth tests. Here are some of the most common newborn medical tests to be conducted on newborns.

Apgar Score

This test evaluates fetal heartbeats, breathing effort, muscle tone, skin color, and reflexes. After the test, each parameter is given a number out of 10.

10 is given to a perfectly healthy baby. This test is done twice at an interval of 4 to 5 minutes. The first test is conducted after 1 minute of birth and the second is conducted after 5 minutes.

ALSO READ – Hypoglycemia in Newborns – Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment

Ophthalmology Prophylaxis

It consists of instilling a drop or applying an antibacterial ointment to each eye immediately after birth.

The goal is to protect the newborn from infections caused by its exposure to germs with the passage through the birth canal (Gonorrhea, Chlamydia), which may be asymptomatic for the mother.

Metabolic Screening

It is a simple test to identify life-threatening or debilitating diseases that are present at birth but which are not apparent from the first moments of life.

One of the most important diseases diagnosed by this method is congenital hypothyroidism. This is a condition in which thyroid hormones are inadequate.

Newborns with hypothyroidism can be treated easily using thyroid hormone replacement drugs.

Thus, if the treatment starts from the first month of birth, the baby will develop normally without any growth delays, brain development issues, and mental retardation.

ALSO READ – Prolonged Jaundice in Newborns – Causes, Symptoms, Investigation, And Treatment

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Phenylketonuria is a genetic disease, where a newborn either lacks the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase or has a very low level of it. A child with phenylketonuria may suffer mental retardation if the disease is not diagnosed and treated.

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a serious genetic disorder that generally affects the lungs and the digestive system. This disorder predisposes the child to multiple pulmonary infections.

Congenital Hypothyroidism

It is one of the most common diseases diagnosed after medical tests in newborns. Their thyroid does not secrete enough hormones, which can lead to mental retardation and problems in brain development. If detected early, the disease can be treated with drugs without side effects.

MCAD Deficit

MCAD deficiency is an extremely rare and serious metabolic disease for babies. MCAD is characterized by an enzymatic chain that helps break down fat and convert it into energy sources. Those who lack this enzyme chain have great problems in processing food and can develop serious diseases caused by low blood sugar.

Cystic Fibrosis

This is a hereditary systemic disease characterized by severe disturbances in respiratory and digestive organs. The cause of the disease is a mutant gene. The treatment prescribed at early diagnosis is able to minimize the manifestations of the disease.

ALSO READ – Things You Should Know About Your Newborns

Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle Cell Anemia is a very rare type of anemia and is considered a hereditary disease. It is caused by the synthesis of an abnormal type of hemoglobin. Early diagnosis of the disease helps doctors quickly intervene with antibiotics to prevent infections or complications that may endanger the baby’s life.

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