Pregnancy and newborn health part 2
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A recent study in Radiology shows that around 25% of babies born vaginally have a small amount of bleeding in their brains. Likely it is normal and has always happened but newer techniques using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging are now able to detect it. It is likely related to their heads being squeezed through the birth canal as it is not seen in babies delivered by Caesarean section.
According to recent research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology using transdermal nitroglycerin in women who go into labor prematurely can prolong their pregnancy. It may also decrease the occurance of some illnesses associated with premature births such as chronic lung disease, inflammation of the intestines, intraventricular hemorrhage, and periventricular leukomalacia. The mechamism is not known but may involve the relaxation of the smooth muscles of the uterus.
Earlier this month in Obstetrics and Gynecology a paper was published which indicates that women who are taller and who do regular exercise while pregnant may have babies that weight less but are still in a weight range that is considered to be normal. A higher birth weight can sometimes be related to labor problems so being tall and sedentary while pregnant for taller women could negatively affect the health of the baby and mother. Of course any exercise routine should be discussed with a doctor first, especially if pregnant.
The CDC issued a report concerning birth defects and infant deaths a while back. About 3-4% of babies in the US are born with some type of birth defect such as common ones like hypospadias, Down syndrome, cleft lip, pulmonary valve stenosis and hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Birth defects are the main reason really young babies are hospitalized or die.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is the most common type of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is characterized by episodes of stopped breathing during sleep. Kids with OSAS tend to have more respiratory tract illnesses and have around 40% more hospital visits compared to other kids during their first of life, often before they are officially diagnosed with OSAS. Early diagnosis and intervention is recommended by researchers who published their findings about the costs of OSAS in children in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Still not done – but once again I’m out of time!
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January 29, 2007
Pregnancy and newborn health
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Lots of news concerning pregnancy and early childhood health to catch up on today:
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows evidence of a connection between the reactivation of the virus (Epstein-Barr) that causes mononucleosis and the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in young children, especially those under one year old. The research was headed by Dr. Matti Lehtinen from the National Public Health Institute, Oulu, Finland.
Research by Vivette Glover of Imperial College London indicates a possible effect of maternal stress while pregnant on the mental and emotional development of her child. The mechanism is not known yet but may involved increased levels of cortisol in the mother and in the amniotic fluid.
Reduced intake of folic acid, a form of the water-soluble vitamin B, has long been linked to a higher chance of a child to be born with neural tube disorders like spina bifida. It can be found naturally in green leafy vegetables. There is now some evidence that folic acid supplements taken in early pregnancy can also decrease the chance of cleft lip by about 40%. This research appeared in the British Medical Journal.
Also in the British Medical Journal is a study showing that up to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee (considered to be a moderate amount) a day while pregnant doesn’t raise the risk of premature births or underweight babies. Eight or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day however may increase the chance of stillbirth. In this study over 1000 pregnant women were put into a group to drink a moderate amount of coffee either with or without caffeine and no difference was found between the average birth weights.
According to a report in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine women who are treated for some illnesses and disorders during pregnancy have children who have a greater chance of having wheezing problems. These include pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), preeclampsia, maternal diabetes and antibiotics given during delivery for urinary tract infections and respiratory infections.
An interesting story in the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology presents some evidence that babies who are born with low sodium levels tend to prefer saltier foods later on. Micah Leshem and his team at the University of Haifa in Israel observed 41 kids who had been born premature and found that those who were born with sodium deficiencies tended to choose salty over sweet foods when given a choice. Kids who had been born premature were chosen for the study because they have a greater chance of being born with lower sodium levels.
I still have lots more to write about – but I am out of time again! I’ll continue first chance I get.
(Technorati Tags: mononucleosis, leukemia, stress, pregnancy, cleft lip, folic acid, sodium, salt)
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Related Posts:
- Pregnancy – diet, weight gain and diabetes
- Smoking and other pregnancy perils
- Pregnancy and newborn health part 2
January 26, 2007
Hug the Monkey – the science of oxytocin
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Susan Kuchinskas, one of my fellow Indy Science Bloggers, writes about oxytocin in her blog ‘Hug the Monkey‘:
“Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that helps regulate many of the body’s functions, including hunger, thirst and blood pressure. But it plays a special role in bonding with other people. When we’re touched by someone we trust, when we make love and orgasm, when we simply spend time with someone we like, our brains release pulses of oxytocin that make us feel deep bonds with that person.”
In one of her recent posts she interviews Michael Gurian whose work helps parents and teachers to understand the differences between boys and girls. As explained in the post – adolescent boys have bodies full of testosterone and tend to behave with ‘aggression nurturance’, which involves competitiveness. While girls, due to the effects of estrogen and oxytocin, lean more toward ‘empathy nurturance’. Its a very interesting topic and discussion about how these tendencies affect how we grow and form relationships with each other.
She also writes about adoption and attachment issues now and then. As my husband and I are in the process of adopting I am always interested in reading more about attachment. In a post from back in December she talks about a situation with some parents in Minnesota who adopted a boy from the Ukraine who had quite a few behavioral problems due to reactive attachment disorder (RAD). Eventually they took him back to the Ukraine but he was sent back to the US.
Its a really sad story, but the kind that wouldn’t happen as often if more adoptive parents were informed about possible attachment problems before they adopted. Adoption agencies should be more responsible in educating adoptive parents so that they understand what they are getting into. Many of us learn on our own from the many adoption web sites and forums where these topics are discussed. When parents are informed of the risks and the symptoms to look out for they can make better decisions about adopting and know where to go to for help if they do run into problems. I suspect that most people are not aware of what attachment disorders are or how severe they can sometimes be. People wanting to adopt are also not likely to be very aware unless their agencies talk to them about it.
Please stop by Susan’s blog when you get the chance – it is very interesting stuff!
(Technorati Tags: Susan Kuchinskas, Hug the Monkey, oxytocin, adoption, attachment)
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January 25, 2007
Help your kids be healthier!
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Is there anything you can do now to help your child be healthier as an adult? Of course, many things – teaching them good eating habits, helping them develop a regular exercise habit, making sure they get all their vaccinations, etc.
Some Canadian researchers may have something new to add to that list – making sure your kids learn another language and become bilingual. Toronto’s York University’s Ellen Bialystok’s group completed a study recently which showed that people who are fully bilingual and speak both languages on a regular basis may be able to delay symptoms of dementia for 4 years – compared to people who only know 1 language.
They looked at close to 200 elderly people – around a half bilingual and a half not – and found that the onset of dementia was about 4 years later for those who were bilingual. The mechanism of how this may work is not known but may involve an increase in the blood supply to the brain.
If you want to help your child be smarter a report a while back in Lancet presented evidence showing that play in young children may be able to boost their intelligence. The study was done in the context of kids in impoverished third world countries where malnutrition is common. Apparently even kids with less than ideal diets can improve their IQ scores if given more mental stimulation from playing with toys. Now, you may not want to let your kids know about this – I’m sure they could come up with a big list of all the toys they want really fast so they can be ‘smarter’!
A much less expensive way to help your children is to give infant massages to your babies. The research is far from conclusive but there is some evidence that gentle baby massage may help to relieve colic, fussiness and sleep problems. Its also a great way to promote attachment between parents and children!
(Technorati Tags: kids, children, health, bilingual, dementia, play, massage)
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Related Posts:
- No more Disney toys from McDonald’s?
- What do you think of only-children? Freak diseases or high achievers?
- Taking Children to the Doc – Certainly Not Child’s Play
January 23, 2007
Breast cancer – exercise, obesity and tamoxifen
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A study published a while back in Archives of Internal Medicine presented evidence that women who exercise regularly may have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer, especially the most aggressive types. Data collected from over 36,000 women from the Iowa Women’s Health Study over an 18 year period showed that women who were the most active had a 14% less chance of developing breast cancer. And their chance of developing estrogen only receptor postitive (no progesterone receptors) cancer went down 33%.
If that’s not reason enough to exercise regularly a different study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that women who have breast cancer and are obese (or less well educated) are less likely to get an optimal dose of chemotherapy. It was found that 21% of the women who were obese only got 85% or less of the regular dose of chemotherapy based on their weight. Also women who did not graduate from high school also got a lower dose than they should have.
The same issue also reports that women who choose their breast cancer surgeon themselves tend to pick more experienced surgeons than women whose doctor is picked by another doctor or by their health insurance. In general patients who have doctors with more experience tend to do better.
More recently in the New England Journal of Medicine some Canadian researchers discovered that women who have more dense breasts – and more difficult to get accurate mammograms from – had a greater chance of getting cancer. And a more aggressive type of cancer yet. There is not yet a way to test how dense a person’s breasts are.
Tamoxifen is a drug used to fight estrogen receptor postitive breast cancers. The journal Cancer reports that many women stop taking it before the recommended 5 years are over. Apparently 22% stopped before one year, 28% by two years and 35% by three and a half years. The women who were most likely to stop taking it were the youngest and oldest in the group.
(Technorati Tags: breast cancer, tamoxifen, exercise, estrogen)
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- Estrogen-receptor-positive or estrogen-receptor-negative?
- Another alternative for high risk, post-menopausal women to prevent breast cancer.
- Breast cancer – detection and treatment updates
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