Health & WellnessS


Health

Extra Millions For Baby Units Denied

Jeremy Laurance
The Independent
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:26 UTC
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© ALAMY2,127 babies died in the first 28 days of life in England in 2007
Ministers last night pulled the plug on funding to bring the care of the sickest babies up to the standard for adults, in a sign of the impact of the credit crunch on the NHS.

Ministers had been expected to find the cash to back the recommendations of a task force on neonatal care. Its report, published today, identifies a shortfall of 2,700 nurses and 300 other staff, such as physiotherapists and dietitians, in England's 162 neonatal units. Neonatal care is that delivered to babies in the first 28 days of life.
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Target

Critics Blast Kellogg's Claim That Cereal Can Boost Immunity

Bruce Horovitz
USA Today
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:17 UTC
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© Kellogg'sA box of Cocoa Krispies carries Kellogg's controversial claim that the cereal can boost immune systems.
Kellogg, the nation's largest cereal maker, is being called to task by critics who object to the swine flu-conscious claim now bannered in bold lettering on the front of Cocoa Krispies cereal boxes: "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."

Of all claims on cereal boxes, "this one belongs in the hall of fame," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."
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Alarm Clock

Family doctors group loses members over Coke deal

Linsey Tanner
Associated Press
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:29 UTC
Chicago, Illinois - Advice about soft drinks and health from one of the nation's largest doctors groups will soon be brought to you by Coke.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has prompted outcry and lost members over its new six-figure alliance with the Coca-Cola Co. The deal will fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy's consumer health and wellness Web site, http://www.FamilyDoctor.org.

Academy CEO Dr. Douglas Henley said Wednesday that the deal won't influence the group's public health messages, and that the company will have no control over editorial content. He said the new online information will include research linking soft drinks with obesity and will focus on sugar-free alternatives.

But critics say the Coke deal will water down the advice.
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Hormone that Affects Finger Length Key to Social Behavior


ScienceDaily
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00 UTC
Monkey
© iStockphoto/Jonas AnderssonWhite-faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) checking its nails.
Research at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford into the finger length of primate species has revealed that cooperative behavior is linked to exposure to hormone levels in the womb.

The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups.

The team found that Old World monkeys, such as baboons and rhesus macaques, have a longer fourth finger in comparison to the second finger, which suggests that they have been exposed to high levels of prenatal androgens. These species tend to be highly competitive and promiscuous, which suggests that exposure to a lot of androgens before birth could be linked to the expression of this behaviour.

Other species, such as gibbons and many New World species, have digit ratios that suggest low levels of prenatal androgen exposure. These species were monogamous and less competitive than Old World monkeys.
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Folic Acid Supplements Linked to Asthma, Study Suggests


ScienceDaily
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00 UTC
A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades.

Researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the timing of supplementation in pregnancy is important.

Associate Professor Michael Davies says that folic acid supplements -- recommended for pregnant women to prevent birth defects -- appear to have "additional and unexpected" consequences in recent studies in mice and infants.

"In our study, supplemental folic acid in late pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of asthma in children, but there was no evidence to suggest any adverse effects if supplements were taken in early pregnancy."

The University of Adelaide findings have been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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Dementia: Rare Brain Disorder is Highly Hereditary


ScienceDaily
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00 UTC
New research shows that a rare brain disorder that causes early dementia is highly hereditary. The study is published in the November 3, 2009, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The brain disorder, called frontotemporal dementia, is formerly known as Pick's disease and destroys parts of the brain, leading to dementia, including problems with language or changes in behavior and personality. The disease often affects people under the age of 65.

"Knowing your family's health history may be one way for people to better predict their risk of developing dementia," said study author Jonathan Rohrer, MRCP Clinical Research Fellow at the Dementia Research Center at the University College London in the United Kingdom.

For the study, blood was drawn from 225 people who were diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The people were asked about family history of dementia and given a score of one through four. A score of one represents a person who had at least three relatives with dementia and an autosomal dominant inheritance, meaning that an affected person has one mutant gene and one normal gene and has a 50-percent chance of passing the mutant gene and therefore the disorder on to their offspring. A score of four represents a person with no family history of dementia.
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Syringe

Brooklyn Girl Winds Up in Hospital After Being Injected with H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Without Parental Permission

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00 UTC
Nikiyah Torres
© Murray/NewsNikiyah Torres, with her mom Naomi Troy, who received a flu shot without parents permission was taken to a hospital.
A six-year-old Brooklyn girl, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, was hospitalized recently after being injected with the swine flu vaccine. The vaccination was conducted entirely without her parents' permission in an incident school nurses are calling "a mistake."

Mother Naomi Troy told the NY Daily News, "I was outraged." After receiving the swine flu injection, her daughter complained she was itching and her stomach was hurting. That's when school officials called an ambulance that rushed Nikiyah to the hospital.

Nikiyah is epileptic and takes prescription medication to treat the condition. Her mother was concerned about the possible side effects of combining a swine flu vaccine shot with epilepsy drugs and was waiting to hear back from her doctor before giving the school permission to vaccinate her daughter. That permission was apparently irrelevant, as some schools simply vaccinate any and all children without concern for parental permission.

After injecting her daughter without permission, the school nurse then called Naomi Troy and tried to persuade her to sign a consent form after the fact. "I was insulted. I was really angry," said Naomi.

So far, 1,800 NY students have been vaccinated against swine flu. Hundreds of thousands more are in line to be vaccinated when a sufficient supply of vaccines is made available.
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Family

Chemicals Found in Canned Foods

Marion Nestle
The Atlantic Monthly Group
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:05 UTC
Photo by JoshBerglund19/Flickr CC

Here's a good reason why food manufacturers don't want to test for harmful chemicals.
If you test, you might find something you don't want to.

Consumer Reports did just that.

It tested a bunch of canned juices, soups, tuna, and green beans and found bisphenol A (BPA) in almost all of them--even the ones labeled organic or bisphenol A-free.

BPA, you may recall, is a chemical in polycarbonate plastics that acts as an endocrine disruptor. How harmful is it? Debate rages. These new data will add to the debate.

CR says it found the highest levels of BPA in some samples of canned green beans and canned soups:
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Poor Memory Linked to Risky Behavior in Youth

Josh Clark
Discovery News
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00 UTC
Memory
© iStockphotoChildren with weak memories are more likely to engage in risky behaviors like gambling, using alcohol and drugs and fighting, new research shows.
Children with weak memories are more likely to engage in risky behaviors like gambling, using alcohol and drugs and fighting, new research shows.

Daniel Romer of the University of Pennsylvania led the study that followed a group of 387 boys and girls, ages 10-12, in the Philadelphia area.

The implications of the findings, which Romer says are unprecedented, are that kids might be unwilling or even unable to think through the potential consequences of impulsive behavior.

"The kids who are impulsive, they might actually have the working memory, they just don't use it as much," Romer told Discovery News.

If the findings are accurate, Romer says that children who might potentially engage in risky behavior in the future could be identified and steered into a healthier adulthood before they even start their decline.
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Heart

Second Pathway to Feeling Your Heartbeat Revealed by University of Iowa Study

John Riehl
Medical News Today
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00 UTC
A new study suggests that the inner sense of our cardiovascular state, our "interoceptive awareness" of the heart pounding, relies on two independent pathways, contrary to what had been asserted by prominent researchers.

The University of Iowa study was published online this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience by researchers in the department of neurology in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the graduate programs in neuroscience and psychology.

The researchers found that, in addition to a pathway involving the insular cortex of the brain -- the target of most recent research on interoception -- an additional pathway contributing to feeling your own heartbeat exists. The second pathway goes from fibers in the skin to most likely the somatosensory cortex, a part of the brain involved in mapping the outside of the body and the sense of posture.
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