Article #5

Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172353.php

Summary: This article is about premature babies who can't possibly breath. They are put on breathing machines to survive, but later develop chronic lung disease. Dr. Bernard Thébaud at Stollery Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital cares for some of these premature kids. He is studying a healing liquid produced by stem cells that may be able to grow and repair lungs.

Background: Babies who are born extremely premature - before 28 weeks - cannot breathe on their own. In order to help the babies' lungs to develop, neonatal doctors give them oxygen and drugs to help them breathe.
These treatments contribute to a chronic lung disease known as Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). At present there is no treatment to heal the lungs of these premature babies.
50% of babies born before 28 weeks will get chronic lung disease. Case studies have shown that as these babies grow up, they continue to struggle with lung disease, coping with reduced lung function and early aging of their lungs.

Relevance: I think this is important. Children are our next generation and even 5% is a large number of chronic lung disease. This is a serious disease and it happens to so many babies. My brother was a premature baby and he had asthma for most of his life. He had difficulty running and I remember he needed an inhaler. With the discovery of a cure for this disease, I think many kids would be able to be more healthy and compete in sports. Breathing is a huge essential for humans and it ables us to do a ot of things. With lung disease gone, there is such a large amount of things that more people can accomplish physically.