פורום השבוע אינדקס אופנה יוגה גברים וצירים היום שאחרי הצילו צירים תזונה מאמרים חדשות ראשי

22/2/2003 12:13 יהודית שריג מאת: סליחה על הבלגן...התכוונתי להזהיר שזב ארוך! ולאחל קריאה מהנה (לא הספקתי לערוך בפנים!!!) כותרת: http://bmj.com/uknews/news20030221.shtml#1 High coffee intake can cause stillbirth Source: The Times Date: 21 February 2003 Nigel Hawkes, as well as five other papers, reports that drinking more than eight cups of coffee a day during pregnancy can more than double the risk of a stillbirth, according to Danish researchers. The scientists studied 18,478 pregnant women at Aarhus Hospital in Denmark between 1989 and 1996. The women completed questionnaires about their medical history, smoking habits, and alcohol and coffee consumption. Those who drank between four and seven cups of coffee a day increased the risk of stillbirth by 40 per cent. The absolute risks of a stillbirth were found to be small, even in those who drank the most coffee. The results of the study are published in the British Medical Journal. Study finds fruit blocks cancer Source: The Guardian Date: 20 February 2003 James Meikle, as well as the Mail, the Express and the Sun, reports that high consumption of fruit during childhood could cut the risk of developing cancer later in life, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at the health records of nearly 3,900 people aged over 60 who had taken part in a survey of diet and health when they were young children. They looked at the deaths and incidence of cancer in the group, and observed that those who ate the most fruit had cut their risk of getting cancer by one third, compared to those who ate the least fruit. Clueless parents a health risk to children Source: The Times Date: 20 February 2003 Alexandra Frean, as well as the Express, reports that eight out of ten parents do not know simple first aid techniques that could save their children's lives. A survey of 2,000 babies and toddlers also discovered that grandparents have never had any first aid training, and that two thirds of working parents do not think their child's carer would know what to do in a medical emergency. The findings from the survey are published in Mother and Baby magazine. The magazine's editor says she hopes the survey will be a wake-up call to parents to learn first aid. The Times includes some basic first aid tips in its article. Things you shouldn't do when pregnant Source: Daily Mirror Date: 20 February 2003 Today's Mirror features a list of 50 things a woman should not do when she is pregnant. The advice includes ways to avoid toxoplasmosis, and informs pregnant women that they should avoid chemicals in hair dyes, old paint, and toxic chemicals in the workplace. Women are advised to avoid saunas, hot baths and electric blankets, because they should not do anything that will raise their core temperature. Mothers-to-be should not experiment with herbal remedies or aromatherapy oils, and should avoid foods that could give them food poisoning. They are even advised to avoid wearing underwired bras, because the wires could damage the swollen and sensitive breast tissue. Tuna fears for pregnant women Source: Daily Telegraph Date: 18 February 2003 Most of today's papers report that pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers should limit the amount of tuna they eat, according to warnings issued by the Food Standards Agency. There are concerns that tuna, shark, swordfish and marlin contain levels of mercury that could cause brain damage in unborn or young babies. The advice also applies to women intending to become pregnant. Women in these categories should not eat more than two medium-sized cans or more than one fresh tuna steak a week. Heart monitoring of foetuses may add to birth risks Source: The Times Date: 07 February 2003 Nigel Hawkes reports that monitoring a baby's heartbeat at the start of labour is no better than using a stethoscope, and could even do harm, according to new research. Scientists fear that if heartbeat is monitored, it increases the chances that worried obstetricians will perform unnecessary Caesarean sections or use forceps to hasten the birth. By concentrating attention on the pattern of a baby's heartbeat in labour, only a fraction of the causes of stillbirth and neonatal handicap can be identified, the study concludes. The guidance now from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the NICE is that foetal monitoring should only be used for women considered to have a complicated pregnancy. The study is published in The Lancet. Heavier Babies 'Face Greater Cancer Risk' Source: Daily Mail Date: 31 January 2003 A new study published in the British Medical Journal suggests that girls born at an above average weight are more prone to breast cancer before the age of fifty. Babies weighing 9lb or more are three times more likely to develop the disease than babies born at 6 ½ lb. The risk factor was also greater for taller babies born with larger heads. The findings were produced from a study of 5,000 Swedish women born between 1915 and 1929. A total of 63 suffered breast cancer before the age of fifty.The study was conducted by Prof Valerie McCormack at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prof McCormack said there was no 'cut-off' weight or height where women had a much greater or lesser risk of breast cancer.Also in: The Express, The Mirror, The Sun, The Times Leukaemia risk in babies born to older mothers Source: Daily Mail Date: 27 January 2003 A brief article reports that older mothers have significantly higher chances of having a child with leukaemia, according to the Oxford Childhood Cancer Research Group. The Group also found that first-born children are at greater risk. Researchers analysed more than 10,000 cases of childhood cancer and compared them with a similar number of healthy children. They used data from the British National Registry of Childhood Tumours, and found that for women over 40, the risk of their child contracting acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is almost double that of mothers under 30. A mother aged between 35 and 39 was 30 per cent more likely to have a child with the illness than one aged 25-29. Eye cancer fears for IVF babies Source: The Guardian Date: 24 January 2003 James Meikle, as well as the Financial Times, the Times and the Independent, reports that babies born after IVF treatment could be more prone to retinoblastoma, a cancer of the eye that usually causes blindness. Specialists at the Vrie University medical centre in the Netherlands, where nearly all Dutch children with retinoblastoma are treated, found that five of the patients aged more than 15 months had been born after IVF. The researchers noted that the incidence of retinoblastoma seemed to be between five and seven times higher in IVF children. Senior figures in the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology have questioned the team's assumptions and said the research should be treated with caution. Larger studies of IVF children have found no increased cancer risk. Children afraid of the dark may have rare eyesight disorder Source: Daily Mail Date: 24 January 2003 Three of today's tabloids, including the Mail, report that children who are afraid of the dark may have a condition called nyctalopia, or night blindness, according to a report in today's British Medical Journal. Nyctalopia is a genetic condition that means the eyes do not adjust to the dark. When the eyes are unable to adapt to the dark, children are likely to bump into things and become more frightened. The rare disorder is often missed by doctors and parents because sufferers usually have no problems with their vision in daylight. Their justified fear of the dark may have been dismissed as attention-seeking in some children. One three-year-old girl with the condition refused to go into darkened rooms, but when she was given an intensity adjustable night light, she was more relaxed and could sleep properly. The risks of feeding a baby too frequently Source: The Guardian Date: 23 January 2003 The Guardian and the Times report that if a baby is fed too frequently in a 24-hour period during the first week of life, the likelihood of a disrupted night's sleep for the child as they get older is tripled. A study on feeding and sleep patterns is published in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood. Role of Intestinal Flora in the Development of Allergy from Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology Posted 02/10/2003 Marko Kalliomהki, Erika Isolauri Abstract and Introduction Abstract Purpose of Review: The frequency of allergic diseases is increasing worldwide. Experimental and clinical studies have linked a reduced number of early infections to this trend. The gastrointestinal system, which comprises the largest lymphoid tissue and microbial reservoir of the body, has received more attention during the last few years as a potential determiner in the development of atopic disease. Recent Findings: Alterations in intestinal microbiota have been detected both in infants suffering from allergic disease and in those later developing the disorder. Delay in the compositional development of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in gut microflora was a general finding in allergic children. In a subsequent study, perinatal administration of lactobacilli halved the later development of atopic eczema during the first 2 years of life. Specific strains of the healthy gut microbiota have been shown to induce the production of IL-10 and transforming growth factor- , which possess an important regulative role in the development of allergic type immune response. Probiotics also strengthen gut defence barrier mechanisms and reduce antigen load in the gut. Pattern recognition receptors in intestinal epithelial and antigen-presenting cells have been demonstrated to mediate a continuing dialogue between host and gut microbiota. Summary: Despite several promising findings, the exact role of gut normal microbiota in the development of allergy remains to be elucidated. For successful interventions, more data concerning a communication between host and specific microbial species are needed. Gene Linked to Autism: A Newsmaker Interview With Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD Laurie Barclay, MD Feb. 7, 2003 — Editor's Note: Researchers have identified at least one gene that may be responsible for autism, according to a report in the March issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. Using a new statistical method combined with careful observational classification, investigators have determined that a gene on chromosome 15 coding for the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor beta3-subunit (GABRB3) is involved in a distinctive autistic symptom of "insistence on sameness" (IS). Autistic children with IS exhibit repetitive compulsions and extreme resistance to even trivial changes in their daily routine. The statistical technique of ordered subset analysis revealed that those families whose children had high scores in the IS category had a strong link to the GABRB3 gene on chromosome 15q. Rather than lumping all autistic children together for the purposes of analysis, separating them into clinically meaningful subgroups allowed validation of this genetic link. To determine the potential of this discovery, Medscape's Laurie Barclay interviewed the lead investigator of the study, Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, PhD, director of the Duke Center for Human Genetics and a professor and chief of medical genetics at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Medscape: In simplified terms, how does this new statistical method work, and how does it facilitate genetic analysis? Dr. Pericak-Vance: First, we identify families with two or more affected siblings. The statistical technique allows us to quantitate similarities between families across a number of different variables. We distinguish single traits, look for genetic similarities for each trait, and use the statistical method to pull them together. If we can identify a group of patients with similar characteristics, that enhances our ability to determine which gene is responsible. What's nice about this is that we can test the statistical significance of the link, so it's not just a fishing expedition. Now that we've done all the sophisticated genome technology and we've looked at thousands of markers, we have to apply this technology to clinical problems like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia. But we haven't yet exploited all the clinical information. In the past, we thought that you either have a disease like diabetes or you don't, but that's too simplistic. None of these complex diseases is just a single condition — each of the subgroups is different clinically and most likely genetically. The clinical subgroups help define the genetics. Medscape: Have you applied this method to other genetic diseases yet? Dr. Pericak-Vance: Any quantitative trait in any inherited disease can be evaluated for its genetic significance. We've looked at age of onset as a marker in familial Alzheimer's disease. We found a nucleus of families with early onset and have subjected them to this type of factor analysis, and that work is now in press. Medscape: What is the function of the gene linked to "insistence on sameness?" Dr. Pericak-Vance: As you would suspect from a gene coding for a GABA receptor, it is probably involved in neurotransmission, but it's too early to know exactly how. So far we've found a cluster of genes in the same region of chromosome 15 as GABRB3, and they all are somehow involved with GABA. For example, one codes for the alpha-subunit. Autism is a very complex condition, so we'll be looking at how all three genes interact to affect clinical presentation. Medscape: Is the GABRB3 gene also implicated in other neuropsychiatric disorders? Dr. Pericak-Vance: Genetic links to Angelman syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome are also clustered in the same region as GABRB3. Some children with these genetic disorders also have autistic-like symptoms, especially repetitive behavior. Medscape: Do you suspect that other genes identifed as being related to autism or to other neurobehavioral disorders will also involve GABA or other neurotransmitters? Dr. Pericak-Vance: Possibly. We're looking at other areas and other chromosomes. Five or six groups around the world have also been looking at other genetic markers. Although autism is a complex disease with a variety of symptoms, there has been reasonably good concordance in genetic findings around the world. Chromosomes 7 and 2 may be involved in different clinical aspects of autism. But the function of these implicated genes is still unknown. Everyone is madly testing candidate genes — it's a wide-open area. It sounds like we're only taking baby steps, but every little step helps. It's like we're stripping away tiny pieces of orange peel and eventually the whole fruit will come into view. Finding even a single gene marker leads to exponential progress, as it gives us a clue as to the mechanism. Medscape: What are the other distinctive features in autism that could help define subgroups, and are these subgroups also being analyzed genetically? Dr. Pericak-Vance: A group at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York has linked phrase speech delay to chromosome 2, and we've confirmed that those children in whom ability to speak in phrases is delayed beyond 36 months of age have a distinctive genetic marker on chromosome 2. Medscape: Do the findings of this study suggest that heredity is more important than environment in autism, or do these findings still allow for interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental factors? Dr. Pericak-Vance: It's difficult to look at either heredity or environment in isolation. If there is a genetic predisposition interacting with environmental factors, we need to know the responsible gene or genes before we can pinpoint which environmental risks are involved. It's quite possible that subgroups differing genetically may each be susceptible to different environmental risk factors. Medscape: Ultimately, will identification of these genes lead to development of new treatments? Dr. Pericak-Vance: Eventually. We may find a gene that is not a good target, but it may lead us into a pathway that does provide a good target for therapeutic intervention. Am J Hum Genet. 2003;72(3):000. Published online Feb. 3, 2003 Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD תוכן התגובה: תגובות נוספות 23/2/2003  01:36 יהודית, תודה על המידע הזה ועל כל המחקרים המרתקים שאת מפנה אלינו מדי פעם. יש כאן דברים מאד מעניינים, - ענבל ל

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