Much of science is fairly esoteric. For example, I don’t know how many people read (or would care to read) Glycine and other neurotransmitter amino acids in cerebrospinal fluid in perinatal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy[1]. In my view, the primary cause for this disconnect between science and the “real world,” contrary to popular belief, isn’t the choice of words being used (seriously, that article title is about as simple as it can get). Rather, it is because scientists are a notoriously specialized and specializing bunch. To you it may seem equivalent to arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin…but somewhere, for some reason, there is a cadre of scientists debating just how sure you can be about how wide the head of a pin really is[2]. As a result, most people just don’t see the relevance of the vast majority of scientific efforts to their personal and professional lives. I know that I don’t.

However, I keep trying. I make an effort to pick up or browse through a certain number of articles every week that fall outside my own particular area of specialization. Usually, I find something that is surprisingly interesting, if not of scorching relevance to my daily life. However, in the February issue of Acta Paediatrica I came across an article whose subtitle might as well be “This is Your Life, Buster:” Parental stress and toddler behaviour at age 18 months after pre-term birth[3]. Jackpot! This couldn’t be more relevant to my life if I’d written it. My children were born nineteen months ago at 24.5 weeks (i.e., almost 3 months pre-term). This article is basically about ME! So what does this article say? Well, scientifically speaking, I’m stressed out. In fact, even if we only had one child, and if the child hadn’t been born that premature, we’d still be stressed out. Oh, and my wife (the one who has to stay home every day with the beasties)…yeah, she’s more stressed out than I am.

This may be science, but it really isn’t news.

[1] Roldan, J Figueras-Aloy, R Deulofeu, R Jimenez (1999) Glycine and other neurotransmitter amino acids in cerebrospinal fluid in perinatal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. Acta Paediatrica 88 (10), 1137-1141.

[2] http://spiedl.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PSISDG003186000001000417000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

[3] Karin Jackson, Britt-Marie Ternestedt, Anders Magnuson, Jens Schollin (2007) Parental stress and toddler behaviour at age 18 months after pre-term birth. Acta Paediatrica 96 (2), 227-232.