An initial concern regarding the link between artificially induced oxytocin and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been invalidated. The study was published on Feb. 9 in the online publication Pediatrics.
Oxytocin is a hormone involved in birth. And whenever a mother faces problems involving progressing during labour, she receives an artificial correspondent of this hormone that goes by its brand name – Pitocin, which is naturally produced by the mother’s body. This supplement gives the mother a boost in order to go on with the labor. This synthetic version of the hormone is commonly referred to as “augmentation.” It basically makes sure that the cervix will continue dilating and the baby will come out in a smoother manner.
The study was conducted by Mette Juhl, Ph.D., M.P.H., who is an associate professor of midwifery at the Metropolitan University College in Copenhagen, Denmark. Juhl and her colleagues looked at toddlers who had received an ADHD diagnosis on one hand, or a prescription for ADHD medication on the other hand. All in all they studied more than 546,000 Danish mothers.
Afterwards, out of this study group, they compared the 26% of the children born to mothers who received oxytocin for labor augmentation to the children of mothers who did not receive any outside boost. And they found that only 0.9% of the children who had been exposed to oxytocin were actually diagnosed with ADHD or treated for the condition.
“Animal studies have found that oxytocin is passed on from mother to fetus via the placental barrier, and that the fetal brain has been affected by exposure to oxytocin,” said Juhl.
But she explained that this doesn’t apply to humans. What really validates this theory is the large group of subjects they studied on. Half a million is an encouraging figure that can equally and fairly represent a majority.
Moreover the study’s finding according to which ADHD and oxytocin augmentation are unrelated is redeeming. But what scientists found regarding the ADHD occurence is that this condition is more present in children born to women under 20 years old, in the ones who had a gestational age of less than 32 weeks at delivery and in the ones who had weighted less than 6.35 pounds at the time of birth.
Surviving cancer does not mean the end of suffering since many US cancer survivors have to deal with physical and mental issues which continue to haunt them long after being cured.
This has been the finding of a new study which involved more than 1500 cancer survivors who were asked to complete a survey asking about their unmet needs. More than one third pointed to physical problems related to cancer or their treatment.
Dr. James Ferrara, chair of cancer medicine at Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai in New York City said that it is common notion that patients who have unmet needs but believe that it will diminish with the passage of time. However the current study points to the opposite.
One very common problem which is seen in prostate cancer survivors is incontinence and sexual problems. Another aspect which came into sharp focus, especially in Black and Hispanic survivors is the toll on financial health after surviving cancer. 20% of the respondents said that they continued to have problem in paying bills.
Another major worry among the respondents was the possibility of the cancer recurring regardless of the type of cancer or the years they have survived.
Study author Mary Ann Burg, from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said in a journal news release, “Overall, we found that cancer survivors are often caught off guard by the lingering problems they experience after cancer treatment.”
The US Red Cross has come under the scanner and asked by its parent group, International Red Cross to cease taking donations from Tobacco Companies. Tobacco has been indicted for causing many dreaded diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Major Tobacco companies are donating millions of dollars to the American Red Cross as a tax write off. This is tarnishing the image of American Red Cross. Donations taken from tobacco companies are often regarded as dirt money.
However abruptly stopping taking donations from tobacco companies is sure to affect the Red Cross kitty which are needed to finance providing clothing, shelter, and medical assistance to those in need across the US and around the world.
American Red Cross came into existence in 1881 by the efforts of its founder Clara Barton. Barton had served for the International Red Cross overseas before he established the American Red Cross.
A US soldier who has just returned from West Africa and was found dead near his Texas base where he has been posted was not infected with Ebola. Army officials have been awaiting the results of more conclusive tests after the initial screening which also showed that the soldier was not suffering from Ebola infections.
Post officials said in a statement said, “There is no evidence of a public health threat or EVD (Ebola virus disease) exposure to community or law enforcement officials involved in the current investigation of the death of a Ft. Hood soldier.”
The cause of death or the identity of the soldier has not been released. The soldier had recently returned to Fort Hood in central Texas on emergency leave, post officials said.
Every soldier who returns after a stint in West Africa have to monitor themselves twice daily and report his status to medical officials.
Killeen police spokeswoman Carol Smith told Reuters on Tuesday, “We are not saying Ebola at all. It’s just that because of the circumstances from West Africa, we are erring on the side of caution.”
The US FDA has for the very first time approved dermal filler for treating scars left by acne. It is estimated that there are 40 to 50 million people who suffer from acne.
The dermal filler is essentially made of bovine cartilage and has been christened as Bellafill. When injected it is designed in a way to raise and smoothen scars so that it is merges with the level of the adjoining skin. The procedure is only done in patients above 21.
Acne has been dubbed the bane of the teens. Though a number of treatments are available including gels and laser, the success ratio was low. Scars left behind by acne are deep and may or may not get filled.
Dr. Ava Shamban, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA, who was involved in the Bellafill study, told Reuters, “Until now, multiple laser treatments or other injectables have been used but are limited both in terms of efficacy and longevity and are hampered by potential side effects.”
A Decade long Diabetes Control and Complications Trial or DCCT which was followed by Epidemiology of Diabetes Control and Complications (EDIC) study reveals that reducing HbA1c to 7% rather as compared to the standard practice to 9% in Type I diabetes reduced the complications from 35% to 75%. It established the importance of intensive therapy as the criteria for care.
At the American Diabetes Association meeting in 2013, researchers had reported that diabetics on intensive therapy had a 46% reduced risk of retinopathy, 39% reduced risk of microalbuminuria and 61% reduced risk of macroalbuminuria.
The trial involved 1,441 ‘type I Diabetic’ subjects with no complications at baseline. The subjects were randomized for both intensive and conventional treatment for an average of 6.5 years and all the data collated from 1429 patients at the end of the follow up totaled 27 years.
The study reveals that the intense control group had significantly lower risk of death. Higher HbA1c levels were associated with all-cause mortality
Aspirin is taken as a precaution to prevent heart attack or strokes. However there are many people who do not really need to take aspirin but are often prescribed by doctors and often aspirin ends up doing more harm than good.
Latest reports suggest that over 11% people take aspirin without any real need. The report suggests that when it comes to preventing primary cardiovascular disease, aspirin is heavily abused.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology conducted a study which revealed that 72% people had mixed variables which should have been present when they use aspirin as a CVD preventative. The study included tens of thousands of subjects.
The rampant misuse of aspirin across the US has prompted experts to recommend aspirin only in persons who have significant clot related problem. This actually means persons who have suffered an ischemic stroke or heart attack. It also includes people who are at high risk to suffer from ischemic stroke or a heart attack in the next 10 years.
It is a common notion that obesity brings along with itself a number of problems like cardiovascular diseases, depression and even cancer. However a new research has indicted lethargy and inactivity as a major cause of deaths across Europe every year. The study found that the figures are double that caused by obesity.
According to a research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Thursday reported that just a 20-minute brisk walk each day can significantly reduce the risk of early death. The report has been based on the study conducted by the researchers from the University of Cambridge. The study involved 334,161 European men and women whose height, weight and waist circumference, and self-assessed levels of physical activity between 1992 and 2,000 were measured. The subjects in the study were analyzed over a period of 12 years, during which time 21,438 of them died. The study estimated that physical lethargy led to 676,000 of the 9.2 million annual deaths in Europe, or twice the rate of deaths caused by obesity.
Professor Ulf Ekelund who led the study said, “This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive. Although we found that just 20 minutes would make a difference, we should really be looking to do more than this – physical activity has many proven health benefits and should be an important part of our daily life.”
A new study reveals that babies process and store memories during the many naps which they take during the course of the day.
Study author Sabine Seehagen, a child and adolescent psychology researcher with Ruhr University Bochum in Germany said, “We discovered that sleeping shortly after learning helps infants to retain memories over extended periods of time. In both of our experiments, only those infants who took an extended nap for at least half an hour within four hours after learning remembered the information.”
Though the study does not confirm that the naps help in retention of the memories, but the researchers believe that this is exactly what is happening.
The study involved two experiments and in each one babies aged in between 6 months to 12 months were taught how to remove mittens from animal puppets. Some of the babies took a nap after half –hour while some did not. Total 216 babies were tested.
The researchers later tested if the babies remembered how to remove the mittens 24 hours later. The researchers found that only those babies who had taken naps after learning actually remembered what they had learnt after 24 hours.
The researchers found that only the babies who’d taken naps after learning actually remembered what they’d learned, especially after 24 hours.
Angela Lukowski, an assistant professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California, Irvine said, “The small number of studies makes it difficult to make firm recommendations to parents. The lesson for parents seems to be that napping after learning may help infants remember information over time.”
Swiss Drug maker Novartis is seeking U.S. regulatory approval for two drugs to treat smoker’s cough. The new drug has a market potential of $1.4 billion annually.
Positive results were obtained in the third-phase clinical tests for QVA149 and NVA237 for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or smoker’s cough.
COPD kills a person every ten seconds and will become the third highest cause of mortality by the year 2030, as per a report by the WHO. Characteristic features of COPD include breathlessness, excess saliva, mucus in the airways and chronic cough. In addition to these symptoms pain in the chest, wheezing and crackling sound while breathing could also be seen in some patients
The new drugs will be pitted against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)’s Anoro and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Spiriva. However Novartis drug could be at a disadvantage because of its twice daily dosage as compared to once daily dosage of both Anoro and Spiriva.