Up to 10 different injections against infectious diseases have to be transferred to children in the first two years of life. And who, if not the parents, knows how difficult it is, sometimes, to calm your child before, during and after the procedure, thereby reducing the significant stress that the child suffers with each injection, and sometimes even with the appearance of a syringe, held by a man in a white coat.
But scientists have found a way to reassure the child before the injection, by reducing its sensitivity to pain. The Cochrane Collaboration, an international group of experts in various fields of medicine, conducted a new large-scale study involving more than 1,500 thousand children under the age of 1 year and found: sugar can help a child cope with pain.
During a long observation of how children behave during injections, scientists were able to notice that the smallest susceptibility to pain from an injection was demonstrated by those subjects who ate some foods with high concentrations of sugar, such as sweets, some time before the procedure. or sweet drinks. They were much less nervous, cried and better maintained perseverance. It is important to note that sugar had the same effect on children during blood collection.
And although experts no longer doubt the ability of sucrose to reduce susceptibility to painful sensations, nevertheless, how it affects the child’s body remains to be seen.
According to one version, sugar reduces pain by activating special chemicals in the body that have the function of pain relief. Another version says that an increase in the pain threshold occurs due to the fact that when it binds to taste buds, it causes the child a heightened sense of comfort.
But, despite the disagreements, the authors of the study are firmly convinced that taking sugar before injection significantly helps children undergo a painful procedure, and parents can save their nerves.
