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Epsom salts, which are inexpensive and virtually in every delivery room in the United States, have been shown to be effective in the prevention of cerebral palsy in premature infants.

U.S. researcher, Dr. John Thorp, a professor of obstetrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his colleagues, reported on Thursday that Epsom salts cut the rate of cerebral palsy in half in premature babies. The report was presented at a meeting of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Dallas.

In the study, either magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) or a placebo were given to 2, 241 women going into labor between 24 to 31 weeks of pregnancy. While the magnesium did not prevent any deaths among premature babies, 4.2 percent of the babies born to women given magnesium developed cerebral palsy, versus 7.3 percent of those born to women who were given the placebo.

Researchers followed the infants who were studied for up to two years.

While it is not entirely clear how Epsom salts have this effect, Thorp’s team believes it may stabilize babies’ blood vessels, prevent the damage caused by having oxygen cut off and help prevent immune system damage to the brain.

While pleased with the study’s findings, Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes, believes that further study must be done. He agreed that there is little downside to using magnesium sulfate when done properly but questioned why the treatment could protect against cerebral palsy but not the other brain effects of premature birth.

Epsom salts have already been used effectively to treat pre-eclampsia, to prevent women from going into eclampsia-or a seizure-as well as to inhibit pre-mature labor, notes Fleischman.

An estimated 500,000 people currently have cerebral palsy in the U.S.

Tags: cerebral palsy, epsom salts, magnesium sulfate, premature births