Virtual reality helps kids by Romana Schlesingerova

It is not a joke; it is not another marketing slogan or commercial. We are not talking about computer games that will glue your children to the screen making them lazy and not interested in the outside world. The new era is here- that's a fact. We should explore the options and take the best of it, as the doctors in some of American hospitals. Researchers just recently found the new way of distraction for burn victims and a different approaching of their feelings trough the game. Kids, who suffered emotional trauma and stress connected to the injury are having the worst time during the cleaning and dressing of their wounds. Pain killers and sedatives are sometimes not enough to help such a young human being to overcome what they have been put through. "Distraction does a great job in decreasing any kind of anxiety that might be associated with the anticipated procedures, so by distracting patients and keeping anxiety at a minimum, procedures tend to go much more smoothly and be much less painful for the child." said Dr.Butz from the Nationwide Children`s Hospital in Ohio. The majority of the kids under this special observation talked about a significant difference between the intensity of their pain level before and after they played the game. Nurses and parents confirmed these results and said that the children clearly showed less signs of pain while playing the game. Another working team from the Purdue University (Indiana) developed a project using the virtual reality as a medium that teaches deaf children math skills. The virtual reality can be a new breakthrough in the field of medicine, teaching and approaching the young population with disabilities.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices;_ylt=AvuxdhfeqJud5nAE2jo4lris0NUE

by Romana Schlesingerova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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