Light for Babies

It was reported in the Scottish Daily Express that an infant can be saved from brain damage caused by jaundice if it is bathed in the glare of fluorescent lights. This treatment, being given at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, makes exchange blood transfusions unnecessary. The paper said: “Each year 15 babies with jaundice of prematurity have to have transfusion, but last year, thanks to the treatment, no transfusion of this type was needed.” Asked about the ‘phototherapy,’ Professor John Forfar, consultant in charge, said: “It is remarkably simple and highly effective. The baby is placed under a bank of these powerful lights for about three or four days, and without our doing anything else, the jaundice is cleared.”