I received this email from a friend of mine. I found it very interesting. All of my children have been under general anesthesia as children (broken arm, ear tubes, adenoids, etc.). Wish I would have had this info beforehand.
Many of you know of our struggles with our son and how he has all the classic signs of ADD. I heard interesting research today linking general anesthesia in young children and behavioral problems. Our son underwent general anesthesia when he was 2 years, 10 months to put tubes in his ears. The study on hernia patients under 3 showed the patients were TWICE as likely to develop behavioral disorders (such as ADD) as those that never underwent general anesthesia. You can go to the link to read the story.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=93553
While I'm not a huge fan of forwards, you might want to forward this link. I think some parents might want to consider the implications before they choose to have their small children undergo unecessary general anesthesia. I have had doctors as recently as today try to push me into having my children undergo general anesthesia. Our younger son has clogged tear ducts and I said, "I would much rather deal with a little goop, then deal with years of struggles in school." A dentist last year tried to have me put our daughter under to have some cavities filled. I am so relieved I listened to my gut feelings instead of the dentist who stormed out of the room after I told him, "I am NOT doing general anesthesia for cavities!"
Of course, I will never know if the general anesthesia caused our son's focusing problems, but it is compelling. Especially when you consider no one in mine or my husband's immediately family (or extended as far as I know), has ADD or any other behavioral problems.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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