Health & WellnessS


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Possible link between baby swimming and breathing problems in children

Children with mothers who have allergies or asthma have an increased risk of wheezing in the chest if they take part in baby swimming before 6 months of age. This is shown in a new study using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Study (MoBa) at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH).

The results come from a study of 30 000 participants from MoBa. Approximately 25 percent of these children took part in baby swimming from 0-6 months of age.

Most children who take part in baby swimming show no increased incidence of lower respiratory tract infections, ear inflammation (otitis media) or tightness and wheezing in the chest. Between 6-18 months the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections and otitis media were 13 percent and 30 percent respectively, whilst the proportion of children who experienced tightness or wheezing in the chest was 40 percent.

Among children of mothers with asthma and allergy, 44 percent of those who did not go swimming had tightness or wheezing in the chest. This was compared to the 47 percent of children who swam and experienced tightness and wheezing who had mothers with asthma and allergies.

Butterfly

Effects of Touch Spread From Hand to Body to Spirit

The importance of touch has been recognized for a long time. Decades ago, studies demonstrated how essential touch was for babies to thrive and develop. The need for touch does not decrease with age.

Crusader

Vitamin D and breast cancer risk

A connection between vitamin D level and the risk of developing breast cancer has been implicated for a long time, but its clinical relevance had not yet been proven. Sascha Abbas and colleagues from the working group headed by Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), collaborating with researchers of the University Hospitals in Hamburg-Eppendorf, have now obtained clear results: While previous studies had concentrated chiefly on nutritional vitamin D, the researchers have now investigated the complete vitamin D status. To this end, they studied 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as a marker for both endogenous vitamin D and vitamin D from food intake.

Pills

Anti-smoking drug may have led to TV editor's suicide

A coroner has linked an anti-smoking drug to the death of a television editor who killed himself.

Omer Jama, 39, who worked for Sky Sports, was found dead at his home two months after being prescribed Champix to help him quit smoking.

Mr Jama had slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the thigh and stomach, an inquest in Bolton was told.

Sherlock

Bird Flu Epidemic Still Shrouded in Mystery

A case of bird flu was reported in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province near Seoul on Tuesday. It comes two weeks after the first reported case on April 1 in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, from where the outbreak has since spread to South Jeolla Province. Two weeks after the first outbreak, a total of 20 cases were reported of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of virus that can be transmitted to humans.

People

No place like home: Katrina's lasting impact

New Orleans residents who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina were over five times more likely to experience serious psychological distress a year after the disaster than those who did not.

That is one of the findings from a study presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in New Orleans.

The study, conducted by University of Michigan researcher Narayan Sastry and Tulane University's Mark VanLandingham, examines the mental health status of pre-Katrina residents of the City of New Orleans in the fall of 2006---one year after the hurricane. It also describes and analyzes disparities in mental health by race, education and income.

Based on a pilot survey that drew a stratified, area-based probability sample of pre-Katrina dwellings in the city, the study is one of the first to provide data representative of the pre-hurricane population. It was designed by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.

Question

US: 42 Denver University students get mysterious illness

Dozens of students at the University of Denver became ill over the weekend, and seven students remain hospitalized today.

The Denver Health Department is investigating the mass illness but has not yet come up with a cause, said David Brendsel, a university spokesman.

Pills

Herbal Science Recalls Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedra, Human Placenta

Herbal Science International, Inc. - also known as Jen-On Herbal Science International, Inc. - is recalling twelve dietary supplements containing ephedra, aristolochic acid, or human placenta because they may present a serious health hazard to consumers.

People

Homework for primary schoolchildren 'is complete waste of time', claims study

Homework does not help primary school pupils get better grades, says a study.

Researchers struggled to find a link between how well the children do in national tests and the amount of extra tasks they are set.

It is thought that young pupils tire too quickly, do not have the skills to study effectively, and are too easily distracted.

This is in contrast to secondary school students, who perform better academically if they regularly do homework.

Ambulance

Girls in Senegal get 'hysteria' attack

Dakar - Over 50 schoolgirls have succumbed to what educators here are calling "collective hysteria" - fainting and screaming, requiring hospitalisation.