For immediate release: April 16, 2008
Contact: Gary Fox, March of Dimes
Phone: 702-732-9255 ext. 228
Emily Wofford Cobb, University of Nevada School of Medicine
Phone: 775-784-6006
March of Dimes fights against premature birth
LAS VEGAS/RENO, Nev.—More than 4,700 of the 35,000 babies born in Nevada each year are born prematurely, ranking the state 41st in per capita premature births. Those premature births will cost Nevada residents, businesses and the state more than $243 million.
Many of those born prematurely will suffer life-long health problems such as deafness, blindness, mental retardation and chronic respiratory problems.
“Premature birth is a nationwide epidemic with more than 525,000 babies born prematurely. More than 27,800 will not see their first birthday,” said Dale Andreason, state director of the March of Dimes Nevada Chapter. “During an average week in Nevada, 91 babies are born prematurely and 54 are born with low birth weight. Annually, more than 200 Nevada babies will not live past their first year.”
In 2005, preterm birth cost the United States at least $26.2 billion, or $51,600 for every infant born preterm. The costs broke down as follows:
• $16.9 billion (65 percent) for medical care
• $1.9 billion (7 percent) for maternal delivery
• $611 million (2 percent) for early intervention services
• $1.1 billion (4 percent) for special education services
• $5.7 billion (22 percent) for lost household and labor market productivity
To address these issues, March of Dimes has called a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 16 in the University of Nevada School of Medicine Pennington Medical Education Building foyer in Reno.
March of Dimes made two grants to University of Nevada, Reno professors to continue their work on finding causes for prematurity and birth defects.
Iain Buxton, professor of pharmacology and of obstetrics and gynecology, was awarded $311,000 in 2007. Grant Mastick, associate professor of biology, was awarded $234,000 in 2006.
Buxton and Mastick will be in attendance to talk about the progress of their research. Also available will be a March of Dimes ambassador family to talk about their experience with premature birth. Kelly DeMaria, from Renown and northern Nevada March for Babies chair, will talk about her involvement with March for Babies.
Buxton’s goal is to explore the regulation and functions of two similar protein structures that are embedded in the surface of the uterine muscle cells and help control cellular potassium levels, which in turn affect muscle contractility.
If malfunctions of one or both structures prove to be linked to preterm labor, it may enable more reliable prediction of preterm deliveries, so premature babies can be born with optimal management. Such findings could also lead to development of new medicines to prevent or stop preterm labor.
Mastick’s funding is for a project to identify how longitudinal axons navigate in the embryonic brain. All signals between brain and spinal cord regions are transmitted by longitudinal axon connections. The main longitudinal tracts are few in number and form early in embryogenesis, established by pioneer axons that navigate accurately over long distances.
However, very little is known about how longitudinal axons choose specific pathways or migrate along them. The guidance mechanisms for longitudinal axons represent a major gap in understanding brain development.
For more information about the news conference, contact Gary Fox, director of communications, March of Dimes Nevada Chapter at GFox@marchofdimes.com or call 702-732-9255 Ext. 228; or contact Emily Wofford Cobb, communications manager, University of Nevada School of Medicine at ecobb@medicine.nevada.edu or 775-784-6006.
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.