Apples during pregnancy protects baby from asthma
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A new study suggests that women who eat apples while pregnant may protect their child from developing asthma and related symptoms.
In the study, researchers from The Netherlands and Scotland led by S. M. Willers of Utrecht University tracked the diets of nearly 2,000 pregnant women and checked the lung health of 1,253 of their children.
Major genetic study identifies clearest link yet to obesity risk
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Scientists have identified the most clear genetic link yet to obesity in the general population as part of a major study of diseases funded by the Wellcome Trust, the UK’s largest medical research charity. People with two copies of a particular gene variant have a 70% higher risk of being obese than those with no copies.
Obesity is a major cause of disease, associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. It is typically measured using body mass index (BMI). As a result of reduced physical activity and increased food consumption, the prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide. According to the 2001 Health Survey for England, over a fifth of males and a similar proportion of females aged 16 and over in England were classified as obese. Half of men and a third of women were classified as overweight.
Low education predicts lower quality of life for prostate cancer patients
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Among men who have received similar treatments for prostate cancer, those with less education –– particularly those who did not graduate from high school –– experience a significant drop in their quality of life after treatment compared with men who have more education, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).
“These men did not start out with a lower quality of life before cancer,” says lead author Sara J. Knight, PhD, a staff psychologist at SFVAMC. “What’s surprising is that after treatment, they have clinically significant problems across the board –– mental and emotional as well as physical –– in managing their lives.”
Mortality Rate Increases for Kidney Recipients with Anemia
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According to a new study in American Journal of Transplantation, kidney transplant patients suffering from anemia, a treatable blood deficiency, are more likely to die or suffer from organ failure than other transplant recipients.
“During a four year period following kidney transplantation, we found that anemic patients were 70 percent more likely to die following their transplant, and two and a half times more likely to again require dialysis,” says study author Dr. Istvan Mucsi.
Smoking affects heart of even the young and fit
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Young adult smokers may seem healthy, but smoking is taking its toll on their heart, a research team in Poland reports. Chronic smoking appears to impair the ability of the heart to relax between beats, resulting in decreased pumping capacity.
There is little information regarding the effects of smoking on cardiac function in young adults, Dr. Barbara Lichodziejewska and associates at Warsaw Medical University note in their article in the medical journal Chest.
Different Approach Needed to Protect Brains of Premature Babies
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A study of how the brain of a premature infant responds to injury has found vulnerabilities similar to those in the mature brain but also identified at least one significant difference, according to neuroscientists and neonatologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
In an animal model of brain injury, researchers showed for the first time that parts of the developing brain are vulnerable to damage from glutamate, a nervous system messenger compound. Glutamate is already well-known for its links to injury in the mature brain. But scientists also found damage in the developing brain that could not be linked to glutamate, suggesting that different treatments are needed to prevent brain injury in premature infants.
Gay men seen prone to have eating disorders
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Gay and bisexual men may be at far higher risk for eating disorders than heterosexual men, while women seem to be equally affected regardless of their sexual orientation, a new study suggests.
Researchers surveyed 516 New York City residents; 126 were straight men and the rest were gay or bisexual men and women. The results showed that more than 15 percent of gay or bisexual men had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at least certain symptoms of those disorders—a problem known as a “subclinical” eating disorder.
Severely obese fastest-growing US overweight group
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People who are 100 pounds (45 kg) or more overweight are the fastest-growing group of overweight people in the United States, researchers reported on Monday.
They found the proportion of the severely obese was 50 percent higher in 2005 than it had been in 2000—a startling rate of growth.
Mediterranean diet may ward off asthma, allergies
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A traditional Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables and nuts during childhood appears to protect against symptoms of asthma and nasal allergies, according to a new study.
“There has been increasing interest in the role of nutrition in the development of asthma, and in the modulating effect of nutrition on environmental exposures,” Dr. Paul Cullinan, of Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK, and colleagues write in the medical journal Thorax.
Prenatal smoke exposure tied to attention problems
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Teens whose mothers smoked while pregnant with them and are themselves smokers have a harder time paying attention and focusing than their non-smoking peers who were not exposed to smoke in the womb, a new study shows.
The researchers also found gender differences in the effect of nicotine exposure, with exposed girls showing both visual and auditory attention deficits, while the boys only had difficulties in listening.
Consumer group says Celebrex ad downplays risks
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A consumer group accused Pfizer Inc. on Monday of downplaying safety differences between its Celebrex medicine and other painkillers in a new advertisement and said U.S. regulators should ask that the ad be pulled.
Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, began running television spots for Celebrex last week, after a more than two-year hiatus. Pfizer had stopped advertising for the arthritis drug after Merck & Co. Inc.‘s rival drug Vioxx was withdrawn from the market. Vioxx was linked to an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke in long-term users.
Aspirin underutilized for heart attack prevention
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Although it’s well known that taking aspirin regularly can lower a person’s risk of heart disease, few Americans, it seems, use the common pain reliever for heart health.
A new study finds that use of aspirin for the prevention of a first or second heart attack or stroke is very low, even among adults at increased risk for such events.
Stress may help cancer cells resist treatment, research shows
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Scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that the stress hormone epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to cell death.
“These data imply that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments,” said George Kulik, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of cancer biology and senior researcher on the project.
Malaria in pregnancy: What can the social sciences contribute?
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Most malaria deaths worldwide are in children under 5 years old and pregnant women. While there has been a large amount of social science research on children and malaria, malaria in pregnancy has received little attention from social scientists, say researchers in a policy paper in PLoS Medicine.
Building on existing knowledge from social science research on malaria, Professor Umberto D’Alessandro (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium) and colleagues propose two models for studying the social science aspects of malaria in pregnancy. One model considers social factors in malaria prevention, and the other in malaria treatment.
Your health questions answered
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SHOPPING TRIPS FOR TYLENOL AND MELATONIN
Q. Many of my friends and colleagues, when on holiday, buy “over the counter” medicines not available in the UK - mainly Tylenol and melatonin. Why are these not available in the UK? Is it legal to bring back large quantities for distribution to friends and family?
