Natural And Healthy

Parents 'should supply alcohol'

2009-12-28T11:32:00.001+07:00

Parents could help keep their teenagers away from drink-fuelled violence and sex by giving them a weekly alcohol allowance, a study has suggested.

Large bottles of cheap cider were associated with drinking in public

A third of those polled had experienced violence when drunk and 12.5% reported sexual encounters they regretted.

University researchers questioned nearly 10,000 15 to 16-year-olds in the north-west of England.

They got into trouble more when buying their own cheap alcohol, rather than getting access from parents, it found.

Carefully introducing alcohol to children may help them "prepare themselves for life in an adult environment dominated by this drug", said the study.

'Increase prices'

Study leader Professor Mark Bellis, from Liverpool John Moores University, said the negative impacts of alcohol on children's health were "substantial".

"Those parents who choose to allow children aged 15 to 16 years to drink may limit harm by restricting consumption to lower frequencies - for example, to no more than once a week - and under no circumstances permitting binge drinking.

"However, parental efforts should be matched by genuine legislative and enforcement activity to reduce independent access to alcohol by children and to increase the price of cheap alcohol products."

In similar studies done by the university in 2006 and 2007 researchers concluded that teenagers who drank alcohol with their parents in moderation were less likely to binge drink.

In 2008 their results showed that teenagers were drinking an average of 44 bottles of wine or 177 pints of beer a year each.

This year's survey found that teenagers who relied on obtaining their own supplies of cheap alcohol were much more likely to be involved in violence and other forms of bad behaviour.

As well as those reporting violence and sexual encounters they regretted, some 35.8% of the teenagers had drunk in public places like parks and shopping centres and 45.3% had suffered forgetfulness after drinking.

Researchers said that while no teenage drinking was risk-free, the way teenagers got hold of alcohol made a big difference to the harm caused.

Just under 20% of teens who drank once a week and were supplied with alcohol by their parents had been involved in violence when drunk.

The proportion getting into fights rose to 36% for those drinking as often, after obtaining alcohol by other means.

International threat

A strong link was found between the availability of cheap drinks and alcohol-related violence, "regretted" sex, and drinking in public places.

Large bottles of cheap cider were particularly associated with drinking in public, while relatively expensive alcopop-style drinks were less of a significant problem, said researchers.

Writing in the journal BMC Public Health, they warned that parents who tried to impose alcohol bans might only shift the problem away from the family into the street.

They added: "Our results suggest that such a move, even if overall consumption did not increase, could exacerbate negative outcomes from alcohol consumption among teenagers."

"Despite much of the chronic burden of alcohol-related disease falling on adults, the foundations of such damage are often established in childhood," they added.

In their paper the scientists said alcohol had emerged in recent decades as "one of the major international threats to public health".

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Another 'bad' cholesterol linked to heart disease found

2009-12-25T11:28:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Scientists say they have found proof that another "bad" type of cholesterol contributes to heart disease.

Home testing kits can check for high cholesterol, but not Lp(a) specifically

Unlike the well-known LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) cannot be controlled by cutting down on dietary fats or taking a statin drug.

But researchers say high levels do not carry the same risk as LDL.

And other drugs might work to minimise its effects, they told the New England Journal of Medicine.

LDL is considered the aggressive tiger of the cholesterol world, furring the arteries and greatly increasing heart risk. Scientist believe Lp(a), which is inherited, is more of a pussycat, although it does appear to upset blood clotting.

Inherent risk

The researchers used gene-chip technology to scan DNA that they knew from previous studies were potential "hotspots" for heart disease risk. This analysis revealed the two genetic culprits.

Professor Martin Farrall, lead author of the study carried out at Oxford University, said one in six people carries one or more of the genes for Lp(a).

He said: "The increase in risk to people from high Lp(a) levels is significantly less severe than the risk from high LDL cholesterol levels.

"So Lp(a) doesn't trump LDL, which has a larger impact and which we can already control pretty effectively.

"The hope now is that by targeting both we could get even better risk reduction."

Some existing drugs, such as Niacin, and others coming on to the market, such as CETP-inhibitors, lower Lp(a) as well as LDL cholesterol.

Professor Peter Weissberg of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said the findings were useful but urged people not to be alarmed by them.

"They highlight the importance of trying to lower Lp(a), which will spark new efforts to design a medicine to achieve this effectively.

"And they reveal clues that open a new avenue for research to decipher how heart disease develops.

"But LDL is still the type of cholesterol to be more concerned about."

Fats from food are turned into cholesterol by the liver. There are different types but some, such as LDL, are known as "bad" cholesterol. They can lead to a build-up in the body's cells.

Prof Weissberg said everyone could reduce their risk of heart disease by eating a healthy balanced diet, being physically active and avoiding smoking.

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Parents 'misled' by food nutrition labels

2009-12-21T19:39:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Nine out of 10 mothers questioned in a British Heart Foundation (BHF) survey misunderstood the nutrition information on children's foods.

Children need a well-balanced diet

The BHF says mothers believe claims such as "a source of calcium, iron and six vitamins" mean a product is likely to be healthy.

A "mish mash" of different food labelling styles is fuelling confusion among shoppers, it added.

But manufacturers insisted their nutritional labelling was clear.

The research was carried out on 1454 parents aged between 16-64 years old with kids aged 15 or under through an online survey.

It found that 76% of mothers questioned believed that "wholegrain" means the product is likely to be healthy.

However, the BHF said that - for example - Nestle's Honey Shreddies, which claim to be wholegrain and to "keep your heart healthy and maintain a healthy body", contain more sugar [13.6g] than a ring doughnut [9.2g] in an average serving.

Kellogg's Coco Pops cereal and milk bars are labelled as "a source of calcium, iron and six vitamins" and 63% of mothers in the survey thought they were healthy.

The BHF said that for every 100g they were higher in saturated fat and sugar than the average chocolate cake.

The Natural Confectionery Company Jelly Snakes which are made by Cadbury's contain more calories gram for gram than black treacle, the BHF said.

Single labelling scheme

Almost three in five respondents believed that the phrase "no artificial flavourings, no artificial colourings" indicated a healthy treat.

The questionnaire found that 84% of them wanted a single, front-of-pack food labelling scheme.

Peter Hollins, BHF chief executive, said: "Mums are having the wool pulled over their eyes by food manufacturers.

"Smoke and mirror tactics means that foods targeted at children and high in fat, salt and sugar are being disguised with partial health claims suggesting they are a healthy choice.

"Regularly eating these types of foods could have serious implications for kids' future health."

A single unified labelling system for food is needed because it the "mish mash" of the different systems serves only to confuse shoppers, he added.

"It's time for food companies to stop making excuses, support one system and ensure shoppers are given 'at a glance' information about the foods they're giving their kids."

A spokesman for the Natural Confectionery Company said: "All we claim is that the sweets contain no artificial colours and flavours - which is true - so we're not sure why this should confuse anybody.

"All nutritional information is clearly labelled on the bag."

And a spokesman for Kellogg's responded: "A Kellogg's Coco Pops Cereal and Milk bar actually contains less than two teaspoons of sugar per bar and has half the calories (84) and far less fat than a chocolate bar.

"Parents understand this because we give them the information they need, through our front-of-pack labelling, to make similar comparisons."

Julian Hunt, of the Food and Drink Federation, has complained that the BHF did not share its research with them: "The truth is that the food industry takes its responsibilities seriously.

"That's why our members are leading the world when it comes to ensuring that food recipes meet the demands of mums and their families - whether that's through the use of natural ingredients; reducing the amount of salt, fat or sugar used; or fortifying products with nutritionally-vital vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients.

"The nutrition claims identified by BHF are not 'partial health claims' - they are approved under the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, which is setting a strict legal framework for all claims on food packs.

"To claim otherwise is being completely disingenuous - or shows that the BHF is deliberately trying to mislead both mums and journalists at what is a very busy time for all of us."

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Eating our way to nirvana

2009-12-18T18:03:00.002+07:00

By Clare Murphy
Health reporter, BBC News

As the decade draws to a close, hopes that just eating a bit more broccoli will help banish disease appear to be waning - and some are urging a rethink of how we approach the many messages about diet and disease.

Broccoli - it's still good for you

The five-a-day campaign - with its roots in the US - hit England in 2003 with the aim of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a "national priority".

But the role these play in protecting us from cardiovascular disease and cancer above and beyond acting as substitutes for more calorific fare now seems murkier than it did then.

A major piece of recent research found that while vegetarians did seem to develop fewer cancers than meat-eaters they were not protected against bowel cancer - one of the most common forms of the disease and one which had been thought to be particularly influenced by the consumption of red and processed meat.

"We're clear on obesity - and also alcohol - as disease risk factors," says Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics at King's College, London.

"But the suggestion of a reduced risk with increased fruit and vegetable intake once you take out all the other factors is much harder to prove. We are pretty much drawing a blank.

"One of the myths is that fruit is bursting with minerals - it's not. It's essentially vitamin C and potassium - and most of us really have enough of these without five-a-day."

Green and leafy

Even nutrient-rich vegetables such as broccoli, spinach and cabbage do not appear to confer the protective benefits against serious disease once hoped for - at least at the levels consumed by the general population.

"It's driven a huge amount of research in recent years, and we have seen that biological activities - of which there are thousands in plant foods - can prevent cancer in certain models," says Professor Ian Johnson of the Institute of Food Research.

"But confidence has waned that what we were seeing in the lab was actually operating in the population. We aren't where we thought we would be ten years ago."

But there remains hope that if the active chemicals in these products were artificially harnessed and optimised, they could prove a key weapon in preventing cancer from developing in the first place in certain individuals.

The chemicals in broccoli for instance have been shown to have an effect on levels of the GSTP gene, which has been shown in mice to protect against tumours of the bowel, lung and skin.

"I think the next ten years will be about further understanding the human genome and genetic variations - working out why people with similar lifestyles have such different vulnerabilities to disease," says Professor Johnson.

"Once we can do this we can - in principle at least - start to target groups, and provide personalised diet information - nutritional genomics, we call it - rather than the blanket advice we issue at the moment."

Great expectations

While waiting for this tailored treatment, it appears that apart from giving up smoking, striving to attain a Body Mass Index within the healthy range is a good step towards guarding against disease. Read more...

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Parents who let children drink 'fuel binge drinking'

2009-12-17T11:36:00.002+07:00

By Martin Hutchinson
BBC News

Parents who allow their children alcohol at home may be increasing the chances of future drinking problems, says England's chief medical officer.

Experts are concerned that too many teenagers are drinking

Sir Liam Donaldson accused some parents of a "laissez-faire" approach and said letting children taste alcohol to ready them for adulthood was "misguided".

Evidence showed that this could lead to binge drinking in later life, he said.

New official guidance says under-15s should drink no alcohol, with under-17s drinking only under supervision.

Legally, parents and carers can give their children alcohol at home from the age of five onwards.

'Middle-class obsession'

However, Sir Liam described the idea of a glass of watered-down wine for a child as a "middle-class obsession", and criticised the approach among some parents towards their children getting drunk.

He said: "Across England, 500,000 children between the ages of 11 to 15 years will have been drunk in the past four weeks.

"The science is clear - drinking, particularly at a young age, a lack of parental supervision, exposing children to drink-fuelled events and failing to engage with them as they grow up are the root causes from which our country's serious alcohol problem has developed."

He added: "The more [children] get a taste for it, the more likely they are to be heavy drinking adults or binge drinkers later in childhood."

He announced a major publicity campaign on the subject in England, which will get under way in January 2010.

Similar advice is expected in Scotland at around the same time. In Wales, a health spokesman said work was already under way to tackle drinking among young people.

The advice was welcomed by alcohol campaign groups, although Alcohol Concern said that the availability of alcohol at "pocket money prices" was a key factor in abuse and should be addressed by ministers.

Sir Liam said that he wanted to address the "ready availability" of cheap alcohol and called on supermarkets and corner shops to "take a stand".

He said that he would be able to "shout louder" about his suggestion for a 50p minimum price for alcohol - rejected by Prime Minister Gordon Brown - after he steps down next year.

Jeremy Todd, chief executive of the parenting charity Parentline Plus, praised the guidelines.

He said: "Parents can have a huge influence on their child's drinking choices.

Parental influence

"Rates of teenage drunkenness are higher amongst both the children of parents who drink to excess and the children of parents who abstain completely.

"Whilst parents have a greater influence on their children's drinking patterns early on, as they grow older their friends have a greater influence.

"It is therefore crucial for parents to talk to their children about alcohol and its effects."

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: "We know that adults who drink sensibly tend to pass these habits on and that some families choose to introduce alcohol to their children younger than 15 in a supportive environment."

He stressed that not drinking alcohol at all remained the "healthiest option" for children. Read more...

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Drinking cups of tea and coffee 'can prevent diabetes'

2009-12-16T08:59:00.001+07:00

BBC news

Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.

Three to four cups a day appeared to offer some protection

And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.

They looked at 18 separate studies involving nearly 500,000 people.

This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers.

The same amount of decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect, lowering risk by a third.

Type 2 diabetes usually starts after the age of 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required.

If the findings prove true, doctors may well start advising people to put the kettle on as well as take more exercise and watch their weight, say the researchers.

When the authors combined and analysed the data, they found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day cut diabetes risk by 7%.

Lead researcher Dr Rachel Huxley, from the University of Sydney in Australia, said because of the finding with decaffeinated coffee, the link is unlikely to be solely related to caffeine.

Instead, other compounds in coffee and tea - including magnesium and antioxidants known as lignans or chlorogenic acids - may be involved.

Special brew

"The identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus.

"If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial."

Dr Victoria King, of Diabetes UK, said: "Without full information about what other factors may be influencing the type 2 diabetes risk of the studies' participants - such as their physical activity levels and diet - as well as what the active ingredient in tea or coffee appears to be, we cannot be sure what, if anything, this observed effect is down to.

"What we can be sure of is that the development of type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to lifestyle, which means that many cases could be prevented by keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet that is low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables."

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Exercise 'no cure' for heavy drinking damage

2009-12-14T07:53:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Exercising may get rid of a hangover, but working out cannot undo the damage that heavy drinking may cause, the government says.

Exercise cannot compensate for alcohol, the government says

A survey for the Department of Health found almost one in five people in England admitted to exercising to "make up" for a heavy bout of drinking.

The poll also found that one in five people drinks more than double the NHS recommended amounts per day.

For a woman this is two small glasses of wine, and one more for a man.

Some people swear by "sweating out" a hangover and carrying out strenuous exercise to help the body overcome the effects of heavy drinking.

But the government's Know Your Limits campaign is trying to impress upon people that while exercising may make you feel better, it does not undo the damage caused by serious alcohol consumption.

While studies are increasingly showing that alcohol - even large quantities - may be good for the heart, organs such as the liver can suffer grave harm - with alcohol being blamed, for instance, for a large rise in cases of cirrhosis.

It has also been linked to a significant increase in the risk of having a stroke.

Not good enough

A YouGov survey of 2,421 adults for the campaign found nearly 60% of drinkers in England exercise regularly.

This is a higher proportion of exercisers than surveys have found in the population at large, but campaigners say there is no point undertaking a workout to compensate for alcohol consumption - as one in five said they did.

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said: "Everyone knows that regularly taking part in physical activity is important for maintaining good health.

"But the truth is, if you have a big night at the pub, you're not going to compensate with a workout the following day.

"Damage from regularly drinking too much can slowly creep up and you won't see it until it's too late."

Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance said "While it is encouraging to see that people are recognising that heavy drinking is bad for their health, it is clear that the extent of the damage alcohol does to the body is not getting through to people.

"Regular exercise will not stop the onset of liver disease and other alcohol related illnesses if people continue to binge drink above safe limits."

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Exercise 'no aid' for period pain

2009-12-12T15:43:00.000+07:00

Emma Wilkinson
Health reporter, BBC News

Exercise does not help to alleviate period pain, despite it being commonly recommended for women with monthly symptoms, say researchers.

Period pain is a common complaint

A study of more than 650 university students reported in BJOG found 28% had moderate to severe period pain.

But Birmingham University researchers said they found no link with the amount of exercise the participants did.

GPs said women should be encouraged to do exercise regardless but drugs are available for those with period pain.

The study authors said beliefs about exercise being an effective treatment for bad period pain had persisted for years.

They carried out a questionnaire among 18 to 25-year-olds to find out what age they started their period, how often they had periods, what contraception they used, and whether they had children or had any conditions such as endometriosis or fibroids.

The students were also asked what type of exercise they did and how often as well as other general lifestyle questions.

Responses showed that 72% had no or very little period pain but 28% had moderate to severe pain with their monthly cycle.

After taking into account mood, ethnicity, weight, smoking, and use of the contraceptive pill, they found no link with how much exercise a woman did and whether she suffered from period pain, or how bad her pain was.

'Anecdotal beliefs'

Researcher, Dr Amanda Daley concluded that more research was needed before women are told that exercise will reduce of alleviate period pain.

"Anecdotal beliefs that exercise is an effective treatment have prevailed for many years and while it might seem intuitively appealing to promote exercise as a treatment for menstrual disorders, the findings from this study, along with many others, would not support such a view.

"Of course there are many other important health reasons for encouraging women to be physically active and exercise performed in moderation is unlikely to be harmful."

Royal College of GPs chairman Professor Steve Field said women with period pain should do what works for them and exercise might make them feel better in general.

"It is a common problem and people usually self-medicate.

"Some exercise is good for you of course but the main treatment for period pain is the contraceptive pill."

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Cancer trial drug hope for asthma patients

2009-12-11T10:44:00.001+07:00

BBC News

A drug being tested to treat cancer could also help patients suffering from asthma, according to Edinburgh experts.

Patients use inhalers to help them with asthma symptoms

Edinburgh University experts found the drug, R-Roscovitine, helps kill certain immune cells, which can exacerbate symptoms associated with asthma.

It could lead to an alternative way to treat asthma in patients who are resistant to steroid treatments.

The scientists studied the effect the drug had on immune cells known as eosinophils.

Eosinophils, found in the lungs and airways, help the body fight off parasitic infection.

'Unwanted side-effects'

However, too many uncontrolled eosinophils can damage other cells that line the lung, contributing to inflammatory conditions such as asthma.

Researchers found that use of the drug caused the eosinophil cells to undergo a form of cell death known as apoptosis, a natural process where unwanted cells are removed from the body.

Professor Adriano Rossi, of the centre for inflammation research at Edinburgh University who directed the study, said: "Steroids are commonly used to treat asthma but can have unwanted side-effects, while some asthma patients are also resistant to steroid treatment.

"It may well be that use of a drug, such as R-Roscovitine, or one that works in a similar same way, could offer an alternative to steroids, or be used in conjunction with steroid treatment for asthma patients."

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Childhood cancer heart checks urged

2009-12-09T12:27:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Children who battle and survive cancer run a higher risk of heart problems and must be closely screened, say experts.

Problems may arise years after treatment

Aggressive cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy can harm the heart, multiplying the patient's death risk by seven, data shows.

UK guidelines recommend routine heart trace checks every five years.

But many survivors currently receive no follow-up, US doctors, who studied data on 14,000 childhood cancer survivors, say in an article published at bmj.com.

With the number of survivors steadily rising thanks to improved cancer care, health workers need to look out for signs of heart problems in their patients, say the specialist cancer doctors.

Survivors questioned

Most checks have focused on heart damage related to a cancer drug called anthracycline.

But latest work shows that young adult cancer survivors are at risk for a variety of cardiovascular complications, including heart attacks, inflammation of the heart and heart valve abnormalities, as late as 30 years after therapy.

The largest study on the issue yet, which looked at data from more than 14,000 childhood cancer survivors, also shows damage can occur at lower exposures and with more types of cancer treatment than previously appreciated.

Lead researcher Professor Daniel Mulrooney, of the University of Minnesota, said that young adults who survived childhood or adolescent cancer were at risk of serious heart problems not usually recognised within their age group.

"Such individuals require ongoing clinical monitoring, particularly as they approach ages in which cardiovascular disease becomes more prevalent."

Confirming responses

Professor Mike Hawkins, a childhood cancer survival expert from the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "This study is useful in helping healthcare professionals understand the risks of heart disease for those who have had cancer as a child or teenager - and especially which groups will be most at risk."

However, he said that while the research was based on feedback given by survivors who filled in a questionnaire reporting heart disease, the questionnaire responses were not confirmed by doctors.

He said Cancer Research UK was currently confirming all reports of heart disease in this group.

"This will provide valuable information about the best ways to monitor and help young British cancer survivors."

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US university links exam success to weight loss

2009-12-07T10:22:00.002+07:00

By Helena Merriman
BBC News

How would you feel if you had studied for your university degree but were unable to graduate because you were overweight?

Adult obesity rates in the US have doubled since 1980 from 15 to 30%

This is what some students are facing at Lincoln University in the US which has introduced a unique way of tackling obesity.

In 2006, the university in Pennsylvania introduced its Fitness for Life programme with the aim of encouraging students to lose weight.

The premise was that if a student had a body mass index (BMI) - a ratio of weight to height - of above 30, then they should take some college-sanctioned steps to show they had lost weight or at least tried.

The course includes walking, Pilates, exercises and fitness games.

But this year, some students have not completed the course, so they may not be able to graduate.

Professor James L DeBoy, head of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation department at Lincoln University, who proposed the programme, says that around 30 students are unlikely to pass.

"Around 15% of the student population each fall has failed to earn a BMI of less than 30," he told the BBC World Service. So we anticipate two dozen not being able to complete the course."

'It is ridiculous'

Sharifa Riley, a journalism student at Lincoln University who has been reporting on the uproar amongst students, says that losing weight should not be part of the curriculum.

"The BMI requirement is ridiculous," she told the BBC's Newshour programme.

"I am fully aware that obesity is becoming a problem, especially among people our age. Read more...

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Lower birth weight puberty link

2009-12-05T11:32:00.000+07:00

BBC News

Further evidence has emerged that babies who are small at birth are more likely to start puberty early.

The average UK birth weight is 3.3kg (7lb 5oz)

Rapid weight gain in the first two years of life is also associated with earlier onset of puberty, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports.

The reason for the link, which was apparent in boys and girls, is not yet clear, the German researchers said.

Early puberty has been associated with an increased risk of breast and testicular cancer.

It has also been linked to other hormonal changes that could play a role in cancer's development.

The World Cancer Research Fund who backed the study said better understanding of factors early in life which increase future risk of cancer could potentially help develop strategies to prevent the disease in the first place.

It is not the first time factors such as low birth weight have been linked with early puberty.

But previous studies have focused solely on girls and used first period as a measure of the start of puberty.

In the latest study, researchers looked at a sample of 215 boys and girls who had height and weight measured regularly from birth to early adulthood.

They calculated when children had the growth spurt that pre-empts puberty.

Those born at 2.5kg-3kg (5.5lbs-6.6lbs) started puberty seven months earlier than heavier babies.

And those who grew fastest as infants tended to have their puberty growth spurt four months earlier.

The study did also show that for girls, rapid early weight gain was also related to starting their periods earlier.

Mechanism

Study leader Professor Anja Kroke said: "More studies are now needed to identify the physiological mechanisms by which a low birth weight and rapid early weight gain affect the timing of the pubertal growth spurt.

"In addition, by gaining a better understanding of why early puberty increases cancer risk, we can improve our understanding of the causes of cancer, and therefore raises the possibility of preventing future cancer cases."

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, science programme manager for the WCRF, said: "This study shows that what happens to us even in the womb can influence risk factors for diseases much later in life.

"Until more research is done, the best advice for parents is to give their children a healthy start in life by encouraging them to get into the habit of eating a healthy plant-based diet, be physically active and maintain a healthy weight."

Professor Fran Ebling, an expert in regulation of puberty and weight at the University of Nottingham, said these sorts of studies were very hard to do so the results were very impressive.

"This points to what we had thought - that babies who are born smaller and who put on weight more rapidly start puberty earlier.

"But what is controversial is they don't find a link between birth weight, early puberty and childhood obesity - and there are other studies that have found that."

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Men and women 'respond differently to danger'

2009-12-04T10:31:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Men and women may respond differently to danger, a brain scan study suggests.

Women tend to have a more emotional response

A team from Krakow, in Poland, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity when 40 volunteers were shown various images.

Men showed activity in areas which dealt with what action they should take to avoid or confront danger.

But the study, presented to the Radiological Society of North America, found more activity in the emotional centres of women's brains.

The researchers, from Jagiellonian University Hospital in Krakow, carried out scans on 21 men and 19 women.

Brain activity was monitored while the volunteers were shown images of objects and images from ordinary life designed to evoke different emotional states.

Fight or flight response

The images were displayed in two runs. For the first run, only negative pictures were shown. For the second run, only positive pictures were shown.

While viewing the negative images, women showed stronger and more extensive activity in the left thalamus.

This is an area which relays sensory information to the pain and pleasure centres of the brain.

Men showed more activity in an area of the brain called the left insula, which plays a key role in controlling involuntary functions, including respiration, heart rate and digestion.

In essence, activity in this area primes the body to either run from danger, or confront it head on - the so-called "fight or flight response".

Researcher Dr Andrzej Urbanik said: "This might signal that when confronted with dangerous situations, men are more likely than women to take action."

Positive images

While viewing positive images, women showed stronger activity in an area of the brain associated with memory.

With men, the stronger activity was recorded in an area associated with visual processing.

Dr Urbanik believes these differences suggest women may analyse positive stimuli in a broader social context and associate positive images with a particular memory.

For instance, viewing a picture of a smiling toddler might evoke memories of a woman's own child at this age.

Conversely, male responses tend to be less emotional.

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Skunk 'bigger psychosis risk' than other cannabis types

2009-12-01T21:58:00.002+07:00

By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News
People who smoke potent skunk are more at risk of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than those who use other types of cannabis, scientists suspect.

Cannabis is an illegal drug in most countries

According to new research, regular users double their risk of psychosis but heavy skunk users increase theirs seven-fold.

UK experts have a theory it is down to skunk's composition - it contains more of the chemical that gets users stoned.

The work is published in British Journal of Psychiatry.

The findings come only weeks after the UK's chief drugs adviser was sacked after he criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis up to Class B from C.

The authors of the latest research from the Institute of Psychiatry were quick to stress that their work is merely to inform.

And they point out that drug use only accounts for the minority of cases of psychotic illnesses - somewhere between 10% and 15%. Other risk factors, such as family history of mental health problems, play a far bigger part.

But they say cannabis, and particularly stronger skunk, should be considered a potential health hazard in a similar way to alcohol.

Lifestyle choices

Just as downing a bottle of whisky a day is riskier than drinking half a glass of wine each evening with your dinner, smoking strong skunk every day poses a greater threat than smoking less potent types of cannabis every now and then, they say.

When Dr Marta Di Forti and colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry screened 280 patients admitted to their hospital with psychotic symptoms for the first time, they found most - nearly 80% - were heavy skunk users. Read more...

Ayurstate for Prostate Care

Multiple sclerosis 'blood blockage theory' tested

2009-11-27T21:30:00.001+07:00

By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News
US scientists are testing a radical new theory that multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by blockages in the veins that drain the brain.

The answer may lie with blood flow

The University of Buffalo team were intrigued by the work of Italian researcher Dr Paolo Zamboni who claims 90% of MS is caused by narrowed veins.

He says the restricted drainage, visible on scans, injures the brain leading to MS.

He has already widened the blockages in a handful of patients.

The US team want to replicate his earlier work before treating patients.

Experts welcomed the research saying it was important to confirm the basic science before evaluating any therapy.

MS is a long-term inflammatory condition of the central nervous system which affects the transfer of messages from the nervous system to the rest of the body.

The Buffalo team, led by Dr Robert Zivadinov, plan to recruit 1,100 patients with MS and 600 other volunteers as controls who are either healthy or have neurological diseases other than MS.

Using Doppler ultrasound, they will scan the patients to see if they can find any blockages within the veins of the neck and brain.

If they can prove Dr Zamboni's theory of "chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency", they say it will change our understanding of MS.

Rewriting science

Margaret Paroski, who is chief medical officer at Kaleida Health, where the Buffalo researchers are based, said the work could overturn prevailing wisdom that the damage in MS is predominantly the result of abnormal immune responses.

"When I was in medical school, we thought peptic ulcer disease was due to stress. We now know that 80% of cases are due to a bacterial infection.

"Dr Zivadinov's work may lead to a whole different way of thinking about MS."

Dr Zamboni, of the University of Ferrara, believes the blockages are the cause rather than the consequence of MS and that they allow iron from the blood to leak into the brain tissue, where it causes damage.

He has performed procedures similar to angioplasty to unblock the veins and get the blood flowing normally again.

He claims this "liberation procedure" can alleviate many of the symptoms of MS and is due to publish his findings in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

In an interview with CTV News in Canada he said: "I found the evidence of narrowing - narrowing of the veins just in MS patients.

"I'm fully convinced that this is very, very important for people."

Early days

Kevin Lipp, an MS patient from the US, has been symptom-free since being treated by Dr Zamboni.

He said: "It's only been 10 months. If nothing happens in the next two to three years, we'll know it's working."

The BBC has heard anecdotally of other surgeons in Europe testing out the same treatment.

The MS Society said more research was needed to see if this was an avenue that should be explored further.

"This is not something patients can expect as a treatment now. This is experimental work and is being tested. We need to know more about its safety and effectiveness."

Helen Yates, of the MS Resource Centre, said: "There is no doubt that this area warrants a great deal more study.

"This could represent a completely novel approach to MS research which, if proven to be relevant, could be a "sea change" in the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the condition."

Ayurstate for Prostate Care

Genetic clue to glioma brain cancer growth

2009-11-23T21:33:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Scientists have pinpointed a mutated gene as key to the development of some types of glioma brain tumour.

Glioma is the most common form of brain tumour

The mutation leads to hugely increased levels of a chemical in the brain, which seems to feed the cancer.

The Nature study suggests that detecting higher levels of the chemical could provide doctors with a useful diagnostic tool.

It also raises hopes that blocking production of the chemical might prevent the cancer getting worse.

Prognosis

People with particular brain tumours, such as lower-grade gliomas, often carry a mutated version of a gene that controls production of an enzyme called IDH1.

The latest study, by US firm Agios Pharmaceuticals, shows that these mutations change the way the enzyme works and result in the build-up of high levels of a chemical called 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) in the brain.

Researchers found malignant glioma samples with IDH1 mutations had 100 times more 2HG than similar samples from patients without the mutation.

They said measuring 2HG levels could be used to help identify patients with IDH1 mutant brain tumours.

Writing in the journal, the researchers said: "This will be important for prognosis as patients with IDH1 mutations live longer than patients with gliomas characterised by other mutations.

"In addition, patients with lower-grade gliomas may benefit by the therapeutic inhibition of 2HG production.

"Inhibition of 2HG production by mutant IDH1 might slow or halt conversion of lower-grade glioma into lethal secondary glioblastoma, changing the course of the disease."

'Exciting new information'

Professor Lew Cantley, a cancer expert at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who founded Agios, said it had previously been thought that IDH1 played no role in cancer.

The Agios team used techniques from an emerging area of research called cancer metabolism, which focuses on studying changes in metabolic activity in cancer cells.

He said: "What was previously considered an inactive enzyme is in reality an active oncogene and a potential therapeutic target."

Dr Laura Bell, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "This study has brought exciting new information to light which could eventually help doctors understand more about how certain brain tumours are likely to progress - and how best to treat them.

"But there is still some way to go before this new information could be used to help treat people wiememapping.xml">

ClariMind Memory & Concentration Supplement

Alcohol 'protects men's hearts'

2009-11-20T18:09:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests.

The type of drink did not appear to change the results

The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men.

Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent, the study in Heart found.

Experts are critical, warning heavy drinking can increase the risk of other diseases, with alcohol responsible for 1.8 million deaths globally per year.

The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease.

The research involved men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were asked to document their lifetime drinking habits and followed for 10 years.

Crucially the research team claim to have eliminated the "sick abstainers" risk by differentiating between those who had never drunk and those whom ill-health had forced to quit. This has been used in the past to explain fewer heart-related deaths among drinkers on the basis that those who are unhealthy to start with are less likely to drink.

Good cholesterol

The researchers, led by the Basque Public Health Department, placed the participants into six categories - from never having drunk to drinking more than 90g of alcohol each day. This would be the equivalent of consuming about eight bottles of wine a week, or 28 pints of lager.

For those drinking little - less than a shot of vodka a day for instance - the risk was reduced by 35%. And for those who drank anything from three shots to more than 11 shots each day, the risk worked out an average of 50% less.

The same benefits were not seen in women, who suffer fewer heart problems than men to start with. Researchers speculated this difference could be down to the fact that women process alcohol differently, and that female hormones protect against the disease in younger age groups.

The type of alcohol drunk did not seem to make a difference, but protection was greater for those drinking moderate to high amounts of varied drinks.

The exact mechanisms are as yet unclear, but it is known that alcohol helps to raise high-density lipoproteins, sometimes known as good cholesterol, which helps stop so-called bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries.

'Binge-drinking'

UK experts said the findings should be treated with caution because they do not take into account ill-health from a range of other diseases caused by excess drinking.

"Whilst moderate alcohol intake can lower the risk of having a heart attack, coronary heart disease is just one type of heart disease. Cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, is associated with high alcohol intake and can lead to a poor quality of life and premature death," said the British Heart Foundation's senior cardiac nurse, Cathy Ross.

"The heart is just one of many organs in the body. While alcohol could offer limited protection to one organ, abuse of it can damage the heart and other organs such as the liver, pancreas and brain."

The Stroke Association meanwhile noted that overall, evidence indicated that people who regularly consumed a large amount of alcohol had a three-fold increased risk of stroke.

"Six units within six hours is considered 'binge-drinking' and anyone indulging in regular 'binge-drinking' increases their risk of stroke greatly," said research officer Joanne Murphy.

Public health specialists warned no-one should be encouraged to drink more as a result of this study.

"The relationship between alcohol and heart disease remains controversial," said Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"While there is good evidence that moderate consumption is protective in people who are at substantial risk of heart disease - which excludes most people under the age of 40 - we also know that most people underestimate how much they drink. This paper adds to the existing literature but should not be considered as definitive. "

In the UK, the recommendation is no more than two to three units of alcohol a day for women - the equivalent of one standard glass of wine - and three to four units for men.

The British Liver Trust said: "There have been several studies suggesting that small amounts of alcohol can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in men over the age of 40.

"But these are often misinterpreted by people looking for a health reason to consume alcohol.

"If you want to look after your health, stay within the limits of no more than 3-4 units a day for men or 2-3 for women and aim to give yourself at least two days off alcohol a week."

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, agreed that the message from this study was not clear: "At the end of the day, you're juggling different risks and benefits, maybe helping your heart or maybe damaging your brain and liver.

"The simple message is moderation.

"Stick to the guidelines, and you won't go far wrong."

Cardiofy Heart Care Supplement

Rising Obesity Will Cost U.S. Health Care $344 Billion a Year

2009-11-19T14:07:00.001+07:00

Study Finds More Than Half of the Population in Several States Could Be Obese by 2018

By NANCI HELLMICH
Abc News

If Americans continue to pack on pounds, obesity will cost the USA about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018, eating up about 21% of health-care spending, says the first analysis to estimate the future medical costs of excess weight.

These calculations are based on the projection that in 10 years 43% of Americans adults may be obese, which is roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight, if obesity continues to rise at the current rate. Extra weight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and many types of cancer.

This report comes as the country struggles to find ways to curb medical costs and Congress debates health care legislation.

"Obesity is going to be a leading driver in rising health-care costs," says Kenneth Thorpe, chairman of the department of health policy and management at Emory University in Atlanta. Thorpe did this special analysis on obesity for America's Health Rankings, the 20th annual assessment of the nation's health on a state-by-state basis.

"There is a tsunami of chronic preventable disease about to be unleashed into our medical-care system which is increasingly unaffordable," says Reed Tuckson of United Health Foundation, sponsor of the report with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

Using weight data, Census statistics and medical expenditure information, Thorpe found:

•An obese person will have an average of $8,315 in medical bills a year in 2018 compared with $5,855 for an adult at a healthy weight. That's a difference of $2,460.

•If the percentage of obese adults doesn't change but stays at the current rate of 34%, then excess weight will cost the nation about $198 billion by 2018.

•If the obesity rate continues to rise until 2018, then Colorado may be the only state with less than 30% of residents who are obese.

•More than 50% of the population in several states could be obese by 2018: Oklahoma, Mississippi, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and South Dakota.

The report adds to the growing body of evidence of obesity's impact on medical costs. A study released in July showed that obese Americans cost the country about $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double what it was a decade ago. It now accounts for about 9.1% of medical spending.

Food Poisoning May Hurt for Life

2009-11-16T17:51:00.000+07:00

Doctors Say Foodborne Illness Might Cause Long-Term Problems Such as Seizures

By KRISTINA FIORE
MedPage Today Staff Writer
Abc News

Episodes of food poisoning may have serious long-term consequences -- including kidney failure or mental retardation -- particularly among children, researchers say.

A new report that reviews previous data has found that five common foodborne pathogens may increase the risk of serious complications, according to lead author Tanya Roberts, of the Center for Foodborne Illness in Grove City, Pa.

"Our report addresses the fact that most foodborne pathogens can cause severe disease in some small probability of cases," Roberts said during a press briefing. "These serious or long-term complications include kidney failure, paralysis, seizures, hearing and visual impairment, and mental retardation."

The five major pathogens are Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Toxoplasma gondii. But more than 200 pathogens can contaminate food and cause disease, Roberts said.

While the severity of the acute infection varies greatly, depending on the pathogen and the patient's own vulnerability, the most common symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting. But even after a patient recovers from these symptoms, they may have to deal with longer-term effects.

Researchers aren't sure exactly how prevalent the long-term effects are. That's why Roberts and other researchers have called for a strong national surveillance network to keep track of cases of foodborne illness and monitor them for long-term effects.

"There's a great deal of uncertainty about the magnitude of these problems and the scope of the issue," said Craig Hedberg, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study.

"That uncertainty springs from the fact that we don't have good surveillance for the diseases, much less long-term follow-up of cases to really estimate the rate of occurrence for these serious conditions."

Roberts said the next step would be to set up a systemized reporting system "to follow acute foodborne illnesses an

Gaming doctor 'caused baby death'

2009-11-14T21:28:00.000+07:00

BBC News

A five-month-old Chinese baby has died in a hospital because his doctor was busy playing a game online while his condition worsened, reports say.

Many parents in China complain about healthcare provision

Officials from the Jiangsu provincial health department said that Dr Mao Xiaojun would be sacked from Nanjing Children's Hospital.

The hospital first said he was working on a thesis but later admitted he was playing an online game of Go.

Parents have been angered by a series of major health blunders in China.

"Mao lied to us a few days ago," Li Shandong, director of health care reform in the Jiangsu provincial health department, told the state-run China Daily newspaper.

"He admitted to playing the game of Go online after our computer experts checked out evidence on his computer."

He said Dr Mao did not follow hospital regulations and that his sluggish attitude towards patients led to the boy's death, the China Daily reported.

Further punishments

The baby was taken to Nanjing Children's Hospital on the afternoon of 3 November with an eye infection.

Dr Mao was found to have ignored the parent's pleas for help when the baby's condition worsened, a statement from Jiangsu's provincial health department cited by China Daily said.

The baby died early the next morning from complications caused by the eye infection, the statement said.

Eleven other hospital employees, including the facility's president and party chief, will also be punished over the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 10,000 lawsuits relating to medical disputes have been filed in Chinese courts every year since 2002, Xinhua reported.

Juggling increases brain power

2009-11-09T08:54:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Complex tasks such as juggling produce significant changes to the structure of the brain, according to scientists at Oxford University.

The volunteers were taught to juggle with three balls

In the journal, Nature Neuroscience, the scientists say they saw a 5% increase in white matter - the cabling network of the brain.

The people who took part in the study were trained for six weeks and had brain scans before and after.

Long term it could aid treatments for diseases like multiple sclerosis.

Diffusion MRI

The team from Oxford's Department of Clinical Neurology used a diffusion MRI which is able to measure the movement of water molecules in the tissues of the brain.

The signal changes according to how many bundles of nerve fibres there are and how tightly packed they are.

Changes in grey matter, where the processing and computation in the brain happens, have been shown before, but enhancements in the white matter have not previously been demonstrated.

Three ball cascade

The scientists studied a group of 24 healthy young adults, none of whom could juggle.

They divided them into two groups.

One of the groups was given weekly training sessions in juggling for six weeks and was asked to practice 30 minutes every day the other 12 continued as normal.

After training, the 12 jugglers could perform at least two continuous cycles of the classic three ball cascade.

Both groups were scanned using diffusion MRI before and after the training.

At the six week point, a 5% increase in white matter was shown in a rear section of the brain called the intraparietal sulcus for the jugglers.

This area has been shown to contain nerves that react to us reaching and grasping for objects in our peripheral vision.

There was a great variation in the ability of the volunteers to juggle but all of them showed changes in white matter.

The Oxford team said this must be down to the time spent training and practising rather than the level of skill attained.

Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg, who led the team, said: "MRI is an indirect way to measure brain structure and so we cannot be sure exactly what is changing when these people learn.

"Future work should test whether these results reflect changes in the shape or number of nerve fibres, or growth of the insulating myelin sheath surrounding the fibres.

"Of course, this doesn't mean that everyone should go out and start juggling to improve their brains.

"We chose juggling purely as a complex new skill for people to learn."

Clinical Applications

Dr Johansen-Berg said there were clinical applications for this work but there were a long way off.

She said: "Knowing that pathways in the brain can be enhanced may be significant in the long run in coming up with new treatments for neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, where these pathways become degraded."

Professor Cathy Price, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, said: "It's extremely exciting to see evidence that training changes human white matter connections.

"This complements other work showing grey matter changes with training and motivates further work to understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects."

Warning on liquorice in pregnancy

2009-11-08T06:39:00.000+07:00

BBC News

Pregnant women who eat large amounts of liquorice could negatively affect their child's intelligence and behaviour, according to research.

Eating 100g of pure liquorice a week could affect a child's development

Experts from Edinburgh and Helsinki universities studied eight-year-olds born in Finland, where consumption of liquorice among young women is common.

The children of women who ate a lot of liquorice when pregnant did not perform as well as other youngsters in tests.

Researchers said a component in liquorice may impair the placenta.

They said the component - glycyrrhizin - may allow stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby.

High levels of such hormones, known as glucocorticoids, are thought to affect foetal brain development and have been linked to behavioural disorders in children in previous studies.

Of the children who took part in the Finnish study, 64 were exposed to high levels of glycyrrhizin in liquorice, 46 to moderate levels and 211 to low levels.

They were tested on a range of cognitive functions including vocabulary, memory and spatial awareness.

Behaviour was assessed using an in-depth questionnaire completed by the mother.

Shorter pregnancies

The results suggested that women who ate more than 500mg of glycyrrhizin per week - found in the equivalent of 100g of pure liquorice - were more likely to have children with lower intelligence levels and more behavioural problems.

The eight-year-olds were more likely to have poor attention spans and show disruptive behaviour such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the researchers said.

Professor Jonathan Seckl, from Edinburgh University's centre for cardiovascular science, said: "This shows that eating liquorice during pregnancy may affect a child's behaviour or IQ and suggests the importance of the placenta in preventing stress hormones that may affect cognitive development getting through to the baby."

The research comes after a study which suggested that liquorice consumption was also linked to shorter pregnancies.

The results of the study are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Experts map the body's bacteria

2009-11-06T11:07:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Scientists have developed an atlas of the bacteria that live in different regions of the human body.

The armpit showed less variation in bacteria than many areas

Some of the microbes help keep us healthy by playing a key role in physiological functions.

The University of Colorado at Boulder team found unexpectedly wide variations in bacterial communities from person to person.

The researchers hope their work, published in Science Express, will eventually aid clinical research.

They say that it might one day be possible to identify sites on the human body where transplants of specific microbes could benefit health.

The study was based on an intensive analysis of the bacteria found at 27 separate sites on the bodies of nine healthy volunteers.

Not only did the bacterial communities vary from person to person, they also varied considerably from one site on the body to another, and from test to test - but some patterns did emerge.

What is healthy?

Lead researcher Dr Rob Knight said: "This is the most complete view we have yet of the microbial side of ourselves, one that our group and others will be adding to over the coming years.

"The goal is to find out what is normal for a healthy person, which will provide a baseline for further studies to look at people with diseased states."

There are an estimated 100 trillion microbes living on or inside the human body.

They are thought to play a key role in many physiological functions, including the development of the immune system, digestion of key foods and helping to deter potentially disease-causing pathogens.

The researchers took four samples from each volunteer over a three-month period - usually one to two hours after they had showered.

They used the latest gene sequencing and computer techniques to draw up a profile of the microbes found at each specific site.

Most sites showed big variations in the bacteria they harboured from test to test even within the same individual.

However, there was less variation in the bacteria found in the armpits and soles of the feet - possibly because they provide a dark, moist environment.

The least variation of all was found in the mouth cavity.

Skin sites in the head area, including the forehead, nose, ear and hair, were dominated by one specific type of bacteria.

Sites on the trunk and legs were dominated by a different group.

Researcher Dr Noah Fierer said: "We have an immense number of questions to answer.

"Why do healthy people have such different microbial communities?

"Do we each have distinct microbial signatures at birth, or do they evolve as we age? And how much do they matter?"

Transplant test

The researchers disinfected the forearms and foreheads of some volunteers, and "inoculated" both sides with bacterial communities from the tongue.

The tongue bacteria lasted longer on the forearms than foreheads.

Dr Elizabeth Costello, who also worked on the study, said: "It may be that drier areas of the skin like forearms make generally more hospitable landing pads for bacteria."

A previous study by the same examined the bacteria on 102 human hands.

In total, they identified more than 4,200 species of bacteria, but only about five were shared by all 51 participants.

Dr Knight said understanding the variation in human microbial communities held promise for future clinical research.

"If we can better understand this variation, we may be able to begin searching for genetic biomarkers for disease," he said.

"Because our human genomes vary so little but our repertoire of microbial genes vary so much, it makes sense to look for variations that correlate with disease at specific locations."

Smoking mums have 'problem kids'

2009-11-05T08:43:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to UK and US researchers.

Smoke toxins can pass to the foetus

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, they say the problems can be evident in children as young as three years old.

They believe smoking in pregnancy may damage the developing structure of the baby's brain.

One expert said it was another strong reason for mothers to give up smoking.

The researchers from the universities of York, Hull and Illinois looked at more than 14,000 mother and child pairs who were taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.

This covers UK children born between 2000 and 2001.

The mothers were categorised as light or heavy smokers depending on how many cigarettes they smoked every day during pregnancy.

They were asked to score their three-year-old children's behaviour using a questionnaire called Strengths and Difficulties, which focuses on behaviour problems and hyperactivity, or attention deficit disorders.

Findings

They took into account factors likely to influence the results, including the mother's age at the child's birth, her level of education and socioeconomic status, family stability and problematic parenting.

Mothers who were light smokers were 44% more likely to have boys who had problems with their conduct.

Heavy smokers were 80% more likely to have boys with these problems.

Both heavy and light smokers were also significantly more likely to have boys who were hyperactive or had attention deficit disorders.

For three-year-old girls, light and heavy smoking in pregnancy were significantly associated with conduct problems but not with hyperactivity and attention deficit behaviours.

Foetal development

Professor Kate Pickett, who lead the research, said their findings were consistent with previous research in older age groups.

She said: "Smoking in pregnancy may have direct effects on the foetal development of brain structure and functioning which has been shown in studies of rats.

"Or it may be a marker for the transmission of processes between the generations that are associated with both smoking in pregnancy and behaviour problems in children."

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "This is another reason why mothers should make every effort to give up smoking - ideally before they get pregnant.

"There are four thousand toxic substances in cigarette smoke and many of these will pass into the brain of the foetus and it is possible that they could have an effect on how the brain chemistry works."

Pharmaceutical Grade Vitamins and Supplements

Lung cancer care 'inadequate'

2009-11-02T08:26:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Key areas of lung cancer care are still "woefully inadequate", a report by leading lung cancer experts says.

Lung cancer is a major killer

The UK Lung Cancer Care Coalition, an umbrella group composed of doctors, charities and private health firms, says UK care lags behind Europe.

It says too few patients are receiving treatment, such as chemotherapy or surgery, because of staff shortages.

The government says it already recognises that more needs to be done to improve lung cancer services.

Lung cancer kills about 34,000 people a year - more than breast, prostate, bladder and leukaemia versions of the disease combined.

Despite being labelled a "smoker's disease", one in eight people with lung cancer have never smoked.

The coalition draws on data from this year's official national audit as well as feedback from leading doctors.

The report says in some parts of the UK, as few as 10% of patients are receiving any form of treatment and nationally the figure is only 51%.

The coalition is calling for a target of 70% - recognising that for some patients further treatment is not advisable because the cancer has already spread too far.

It estimates this would save an extra 3,000 lives a year.

One of the major problems is a lack of access to surgeons - there are only 44 full-time positions for more than 240 separate teams.

The shortfall means that some patients who would be eligible for treatment are being turned down, the report adds. Read more...