Preterm delivery (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) is associated with significant short and long term ill-health and accounts for almost 75%of all newborn deaths.
To be included participants had to be free of diabetes have delivered a live single baby and completed a validated food frequency questionnaire on dietary habits during the first four to five months of pregnancy.
but say the findings suggest that diet matters for the risk of preterm delivery which may reassure medical practitioners that the current dietary recommendations are sound
These findings are important as prevention of preterm delivery is of major importance in modern obstetrics.
and/or vegetables in prevention of premature birth and says health professionals would therefore be well advised to reinforce the message that pregnant women eat a healthy diet.
The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Bt is a soil bacterium that produces proteins that are toxic to some species of caterpillars
and to identify the best course of action for improving honeybee health. A team of scientists led by Professor Juliet Osborne from the Environment and Sustainability Institute University of Exeter (and previously at Rothamsted Research) developed BEEHAVE
which simulates the life of a colony including the queen's egg laying brood care by nurse bees
This is the first opportunity to simulate the effects of several factors together such as food availability mite infestation and disease over realistic time scales.
and modellers from Exeter (Professor Osborne Dr Becher and Dr Kennedy who started the project at Rothamsted Research) Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research--UFZ Leipzig (Professor Grimm and Ms
Horn) and Syngenta (Dr P Thorbek). Professor Osborne's research group studies the behaviour and ecology of bees and other pollinators.
This virtual hive is an important new research tool to help us understand how changes to the environment impact on bee health.
Dr Pernille Thorbek (Syngenta) adds: Studying several stressors in multifactorial field trials is complicated immensely and difficult to do.
Dr David Aston President of The british Beekeepers Association commented that: This model will be an important tool in helping us to understand the interactions
but it will also be an important training tool to help beekeepers better understand the impacts of their husbandry and other factors on the health and survival of their colonies.
#New online care from dietitians helps control weighta rich chocolate cake is tempting you but where is a dietitian
when you need one? The e-Care for Heart Wellness study sought to solve this problem.
In the study Group Health patients who were had overweight and hypertension were more likely to have lost 10 pounds in six months
if they had secure online access to a dietitian than if they received only information and usual care.
The American Journal of Preventive medicine published the e-Care study. One patient said'It's like having a dietitian in your pocket'said Beverly B. Green MD MPH a family doctor at Group Health an associate investigator at Group Health Research Institute and an assistant clinical
professor in family medicine at the University of Washington (UW) School of medicine. The patients really loved this intervention
--and having access to a dietitian to work with them toward a healthier lifestyle. In addition to team-based care led by a dietitian the patients in the intervention group were given a home blood pressure monitor a scale and a pedometer.
They each had one in-person visit with a dietitian where together they created a plan to reduce their heart risk including the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet with eight to 10 servings of vegetables and fruits per day.
The DASH diet is not about eating less food just more of the right food Dr. Green said quoting a patient who said:
All those fruits and vegetables kept me full and less likely to eat something I might regret later.
The visit to the dietitian was followed by planned follow-up by secure messaging (through Group Health's website for patients) to report their blood pressure weight
and vegetable and fruit intake--and to receive ongoing feedback. When appropriate the dietitians also encouraged patients
and their doctors to consider changes to their hypertensive and lipid-lowering medication dosages. Of the 90 people who completed six-month follow-up the 44 who had been assigned randomly to receive dietitian e-care had higher rates of patient satisfaction
and of use of Group Health's secure messaging than did assigned the 46 to education and usual care.
Although blood pressure and heart risk trended lower in the intervention group the differences weren't significant--unlike their weight.
Heart disease and stroke are the number-one cause of death in the United states but they don't have to be said Dr. Green.
If people had better control of their heart risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol and we could prevent
or decrease obesity we could cut the number of heart deaths in half. And that's just what she's been trying to do by shifting health care from the doctor's office to where people live:
in their homes--and online. In a previous large randomized controlled trial called e-BP (Electronic Blood pressure) and published in JAMA Dr. Green showed that
when people checked their blood pressure at home and received Web-based care from pharmacists they were nearly twice as likely to get their blood pressure under control (under 140/90 Mm hg)--and cost-effectively without office visits.
In that study the emphasis was on following standard guidelines to boost doses switch and combine hypertension drugs.
Although the pharmacists helped patients set lifestyle goals weight loss was not statistically significant. That's why Dr. Green launched the e-Care study.
Next steps since this study proved the intervention is feasible? Combining the e-Care and e-BP studies
which were both based on the Chronic Care Model. We're planning a larger randomized controlled trial where we will tailor the e-care for the patients who have hypertension Dr. Green said.
We'll pair each patient with either a pharmacist or a dietitian depending on their individual needs.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Group Health Research Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Complex plant behavior? In fight against parasites, Barberry sacrifices seeds depending on survival chanceplants appear to be able to make complex decisions.
At least this is what scientists from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of GÃ ttingen have concluded from their investigations on Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) which is able to abort its own seeds to prevent parasite infestation.
The results are the first ecological evidence of complex behaviour in plants. They indicate that this species has a structural memory is able to differentiate between inner and outer conditions as well as anticipate future risks scientists write in the journal American Naturalist.
The European barberry or simply Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is a species of shrub distributed throughout Europe. It is related to the Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) that is native to North america
a highly specialized species of tephritid fruit fly whose larvae actually feed on the seeds of the native Barberry was found to have a tenfold higher population density on its new host plant the Oregon grape reports Dr. Harald Auge a biologist at the UFZ.
but rather it depends on how many seeds there are in the berries explains Dr. Katrin M. Meyer who analysed the data at the UFZ and currently works at the University of Goettingen.
Using computer model calculations scientists were able to demonstrate how those plants subjected to stress from parasite infestation reacted very differently from those without stress.
Slight chances are better than none at all explains Dr. Hans-Hermann Thulke from the UFZ.
vegetable consumptionnew federal standards launched in 2012 that require schools to offer healthier meals have led to increased fruit and vegetable consumption according to a new study from Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) researchers.
and the improved dietary intakes will likely have important health implications for children wrote the researchers.
The above story is provided based on materials by Harvard School of Public health. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
whether online or with samples in hand and to contemplate how chemically diverse tropical canopies have become. noted Dr. Robin Martin the project's long-time coordinator Not only do the study's findings help us better understand the tremendous diversity of the region they also provide a new basis
The new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that growing reliance on a few food crops may also accelerate the worldwide rise in obesity heart disease and diabetes
and have become major health problems even within countries still grappling with significant constraints in food availability.
The study calls for urgent efforts to better inform consumers about diet-related diseases and to promote healthier more diverse food alternatives.
Another danger of a more homogeneous global food basket is that it makes agriculture more vulnerable to major threats like drought insect pests and diseases
Countries experiencing rapid dietary change are also quickly seeing rises in the associated diseases of overabundance said Khoury.
not only to combat hunger malnutrition and over-nutrition but also to protect global food supplies against the impacts of global climate change.
The lack of a modern glossary for resistance was brought recently to our attention by an initiative of the U s. Environmental protection agency (EPA) seeking input on definitions of terms about resistance said Dr. Mark Whalon one of the co-authors from Michigan State university
but are not toxic to people wildlife or even most insects. Organic growers have used Bt toxins in sprays for decades
and conventional farmers have adopted widely transgenic Bt crops since 1996. In 2013 Bt corn and Bt cotton were planted on 187 million acres worldwide
and use them to classify 13 cases of resistance to five Bt toxins in transgenic corn
The first evidence of rootworm resistance to Bt corn was discovered in Iowa in 2009 said Dr. Bruce Tabashnik the study's lead author
#Ancient Chinese medicine put through its paces for pancreatic cancerthe bark of the Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense) has traveled a centuries-long road with the healing arts.
Now it is being put through its paces by science in the fight against pancreatic cancer with the potential to make inroads against several more.
UT Health Science Center researcher A. Pratap Kumar was already exploring the cork tree extract's promise in treating prostate cancer
when his team found that deadly pancreatic cancers share some similar development pathways with prostate tumors.
In a paper published today in the journal Clinical Cancer Research the researchers show that the extract blocks those pathways
and inhibits the scarring that thwarts anticancer drugs. Dr. Jingjing Gong currently pursuing post-doctoral studies at Yale university conducted the study as a graduate student in Dr Kumar's laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology.
Fibrosis is a process of uncontrolled scarring around the tumor gland said Dr. Kumar a professor of urology in the School of medicine at the Health Science Center and the study's principal investigator.
Once you have fibrotic tissue the drugs cannot get into the cancer. Liver and kidney tumors also develop fibrosis
and the resulting resistance to drugs he said and there are no drugs currently targeting that pathway in those cancers.
The two pathways or proteins that contribute to fibrosis in those tumors also encourage Cox-2 an enzyme that causes inflammation
and the cork tree extract appears to suppress that as well Dr. Kumar said. The complex interrelationship of these substances is the million-dollar question he said
and solving that question is one of the next steps in his research. The potential of natural substances to treat
and cure disease has great appeal but the advantage of cork tree extract available as a dietary supplement in capsule form is that it already has been established as safe for use in patients.
In a promising prostate cancer clinical study of 24 patients that Dr. Kumar helped spearhead all the patients tolerated the treatment well he said.
Now researchers are analyzing the results he said and with more funding they plan to expand the study to a much larger group of patients.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Texas Health Science Center at San antonio. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Spanish forest ecosystems: Carbon emission will be higher in second half of centuryspanish forest ecosystems will quite probably emit high quantities of carbon dioxide in the second half of the 21st century.
This is the conclusion of a report that reviews the results obtained from the implementation of the forest simulation model GOTILWA+a tool to simulate forest growth processes under several environmental conditions
and to optimize Mediterranean forests management strategies in the context of climate change. The report was published on the latest issue of the ecology
Because many of the identified compounds are known to be water soluble using a smoke solution is a convenient alternative to direct fumigation of seeds explains Dr. Janice Coons lead author of the study.
#Asthma drug aids simultaneous desensitization to several food allergies, study findsan asthma drug accelerates the process of desensitizing patients with food allergies to several foods at the same time a new study
The findings come on the heels of a recent study by the same team showing that people with multiple food allergies can be desensitized to several foods at once.
The two studies both phase-1 safety trials provide the first scientific evidence that a promising new method for treating people for multiple food allergies works.
Patients who took the asthma drug omalizumab became desensitized to multiple food allergens at a median of 18 weeks;
those who did not take the drug became desensitized at a median of 85 weeks the researchers found.
The results of the new study was published online Feb 27 in the journal Allergy Asthma & Clinical Immunology.
In oral immunotherapy the desensitization method used in both studies allergic patients build up tolerance to a food by ingesting it in tiny gradually increasing doses under a doctor's supervision in a hospital setting.
and the patient is able to eat the food safely. Several researchers have shown that this therapy works on a single food allergen
but it had not been tested on multiple food allergens. The Stanford team tried the new technique because nearly 4 million Americans are allergic to more than one food.
Parents came up to me and said things like'It's great that you're desensitizing children to their peanut
or milk allergies but my daughter is allergic to wheat cashews eggs and almonds. What can you do about that?'
'said Kari Nadeau MD Phd associate professor of pediatrics at the medical school and an immunologist at Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.
Patients'options for dealing with food allergies are limited. Physicians advise them to avoid allergy triggers
and carry injectable epinephrine at all times because they run a constant risk of anaphylactic shock from accidental consumption.
On the other hand oral immunotherapy is still experimental and quite slow: In prior studies patients took as long as three years to become desensitized to one food.
being desensitized to several foods one at a time could prospectively take decades. Yet Stanford researchers succeeded in safely desensitizing patients to several food allergens at once
and were able to speed up desensitization by supplementing oral immunotherapy with injections of omalizumab (brand name Xolair).
In the earlier study in which patients were given not omalizumab 25 children and adults with multiple allergies ate tiny doses of their allergens--as many as five--as highly purified food powders each day.
The total dose was divided evenly between the allergens so that each subject got the same total quantity of food protein regardless of the number of foods they were being desensitized to.
The researchers monitored the treatment's safety noting some mild allergic reactions such as itching in the mouth
and a small number of severe reactions that were treated with epinephrine. The food dose was increased gradually until subjects could eat 4 grams of each food protein
and adults with multiple food allergies underwent a similar protocol--but with an additional step.
Eight weeks before being introduced to food allergens the patients began receiving injections of omalizumab. This drug reduces activity of the body's Ige molecules the antibodies involved in allergic responses
and had been shown in a previous Stanford study to speed the success of oral immunotherapy for children with milk allergies.
Patients getting omalizumab tolerated larger initial doses of allergens than those in the non-omalizumab study
and desensitization progressed faster. The drug was discontinued after eight weeks of oral immunotherapy; this discontinuation was associated not with additional allergic reactions.
The patients continued consuming food powders until they could safely eat 4 grams of each food protein.
This occurred at a median of 18 weeks after the food doses began. It's efficient said Philippe BÃ gin MD a visiting scientist at Stanford and the paper's lead author.
It's exciting that we could perhaps have a treatment that's actually doable on a large scale.
However the new experimental regimen will need further testing in randomized blinded controlled phase-2 studies before it is ready for widespread clinical use he
Many of the study subjects had more than five food allergies the maximum number treated. However the researchers saw something curious:
Some people with nut allergies were desensitized to related tree nuts to which were also allergic
but that were included not in their immunotherapy.''Bystander effect'We saw this'bystander effect'in about 60 percent of patients where for example we gave someone pecan powder
and the person became desensitized to walnut too said Nadeau who is also a member of the Children's Health Research Institute at Stanford.
In the future we'll be trying to understand why some people have the bystander effect during clinical trials
and some don't. Future research will also determine the most effective way to conduct the therapy.
Nadeau's team is now planning a phase-2 trial at Stanford and possibly four other research institutions across the country.
The above story is provided based on materials by Stanford university Medical center. The original article was written by Erin Digitale.
#Beneficial anti-inflammatory effects observed when plant extracts fed to sick pigsporcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the most expensive and invasive disease for pig producers on a global scale.
Though it is not occurring on every farm it is the biggest disease problem in the pig industry said a University of Illinois animal sciences researcher.
E coli has also been a problem historically and continues to be on an industry-wide basis said James Pettigrew.
Either disease can sweep through a farm so their alleviation would substantially reduce production costs. Even though many management practices have been used in the swine industry these practices cannot guarantee freedom from disease for pigs he said.
Consumer concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics have prompted the swine industry to seek additional methods to protect the health of pigs including special feed additives.
This interest led Pettigrew and his team to explore the potential benefits of selected plant extracts.
For instance they can act as antioxidants or as antimicrobials. We wanted to test whether we could get a benefit from feeding those products in very low doses to pigs that were challenged with these specific diseases.
E coli a bacterial illness of the gut is marked by diarrhea decrease in appetite decrease in body weight and in some cases a higher mortality rate.
E coli is especially dangerous post-weaning as pigs adapt to new feed and new environments Pettigrew said.
The pigs in the study challenged with E coli that had been fed any of the three plant extracts had a lower frequency of diarrhea (20 percent) than the pigs fed the control diet (40 percent.
Liu noted that even the pigs in the non-challenged group with a low frequency of mild diarrhea benefited from the plant extracts.
Because there is a relatively high diarrhea rate in post-weaning pigs as they are moved from the mom
Common symptoms of PRRS a viral infection of the lung include fever lethargy trouble breathing loss of appetite and decreased growth performance.
The disease can also lead to spontaneous abortions and higher pre-weaning mortality rates in pigs. After feeding the pigs challenged with the PRRS virus the three plant extracts the researchers observed that the pigs were more efficient in week 1 (55 percent)
and prevent secondary infections. The researchers believe the benefits resulted from the effects on the pigs'immune systems
Although previous studies have looked at using plant extracts in pig diets Pettigrew said Liu's study which looked at the effects of three different extracts on two different diseases had not been done previously.
Dr. Devi Stuart-Fox and Jennifer Goode both of the Zoology Department at the University of Melbourne Australia attempted to determine what was more important in driving courtship:
Protocol used to demonstrate brucellosis-free bison from infected herdsa new study from the USDA Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) demonstrates that it is possible to qualify bison coming from an infected herd as free of brucellosis using quarantine procedures.
These bison can then be used to seed conservation herds in other landscapes without the threat of spreading the disease.
In response to Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) guidelines on federal and state bison management actions the USDA APHIS Brucellosis Eradication:
if it could successfully be used to qualify the animals as brucellosis-free. Results of the study indicated that it is feasible to take young bison from an infected population
and Rule (UM &r) qualify them as brucellosis-free in less than three years. Between 2005 and 2008 more than 200 bison calves of Yellowstone national park origin were transported to a quarantine facility at Corwin Springs Montana just outside Yellowstone national park.
and tested for brucellosis. Those animals that tested positive were euthanized and those remaining were tested until all had two consecutive negative tests.
Since the primary mode of brucellosis transmission is via abortion and birthing events all animals testing negative were held until they produced their first calf
and showed no evidence of the disease in newborn calves birth fluids or blood. At that point the bison were considered brucellosis-free.
The study showed that all bison continued to be brucellosis-free over the course of the seven-year study after the initial screening period and through several calving cycles.
No evidence of brucellosis was found in either newborn calves or their mothers. The results of this study indicate that under the right conditions there is an opportunity to produce live brucellosis-free bison from even a herd with a large number of infected animals like the one in Yellowstone national park said Dr. Jack
Rhyan APHIS Veterinary Officer. Additionally this study was a great example of the benefits to be gained from several agencies pooling resources
and expertise to research the critical issue of brucellosis in wildlife. The authors of the study note that agencies charged with the management of bison agree that capture
and relocation of bison to other suitable habitats would be an appropriate alternative to the lethal removal of bison that exceed population objectives for Yellowstone national park as defined by the IMBP.
The UM &r protocol could facilitate such relocation by demonstrating animals are disease-free and would not transmit brucellosis to cattle or other animals.
At the same time a movement to ecologically restore bison to large landscapes is gaining momentum throughout the United states
and Canada and brucellosis-free bison may be needed to seed those landscapes. In particular the genetics of Yellowstone bison are important
and these research findings enable us to practice genetic rescue from brucellosis infected bison herds.
We've also learned a great deal about brucellosis blood testing and how to better interpret results when screening animals for this disease.
It is our hope that several satellite herds of Yellowstone bison can be assembled from the animals that graduate through this quarantine process.
which include a compelling graphic image of the negative health impacts of smoking were more likely to be aware of
and understand the health risks of tobacco products. The study led by Dina Borzekowski Ed. D in the University of Maryland School of Public health (UMD SPH)
and Joanna Cohen Phd Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health (JHSPH) showed that only 38%of children had any awareness of warning labels currently being featured on cigarette packages.
Even after showing warning labels to participating children around two-thirds (62%)of the children were unable to explain what the health warnings were about.
Among the six countries studied awareness and understanding of health warning labels was greatest among children in Brazil where graphic warning labels often featuring extremely gruesome pictures have been featured
since 2002 and cover 100%of either the front or back of the cigarette package.
Their findings published in the Journal of Public health offer data from a sample of 2423 five and six year-old children interviewed in Brazil China India Nigeria Pakistan and Russia about their awareness and understanding
of cigarette health warning labels. Pro-smoking messages are reaching the world's most susceptible audiences explains Dr. Borzekowski research professor in the UMD SPH Department of Behavioral and Community Health.
We need to do a better job globally to reach children with anti-smoking messages. To do this health warning messages should be big and clear especially for low-literacy populations children and young people.
According to the World health organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) tobacco product packages and labeling should effectively communicate the health risks associated with tobacco use
and that the effectiveness of these health warnings and messages increases with their prominence and with the use of pictures.
This new study follows recent work by Borzekowski and Cohen published in the journal Pediatrics in October 2013.
The earlier piece drawn from the same sample of five and six year olds provided evidence that young children recognize cigarette brands.
In contrast to the higher awareness among children in Brazil where tobacco warning labels and large and graphic awareness and understanding of health warning labels was lowest among children from Indian and Nigeria.
and the Nigerian warning label uses only a vague text message (The Federal Ministry of Health warns that smokers are liable to die young.)
Heath warning labels on cigarette packs are an important medium for communicating about the serious health effects caused by tobacco products said Dr. Cohen director of the JHSPH Institute for Global Tobacco Control.
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