Early Indications of School Trouble
The Apgar test given to newborns is used to predict postnatal care needs. Now researchers in Sweden have discovered it may also help predict later education issues.
What they found is that the same indicators that pull the Apgar score below 7 are often also associated with cognitive defects later in life. Those kids were twice as likely to be in special education by their teens. While most newborns with low Apgar scores grow up to be all right, some scientists theorize that for the one in 44 who do not, the reasons for a low score don't simply go away.
A low Apgar score is indicative of trouble breathing or a weak heart. Deficits in these areas in adults are associated with stoke and brain damage, and further investigation is expected to explore whether the same mechanism is at work in newborns.