In a trial of 2,389 pregnant women, 800 mg of DHA daily through the second half of pregnancy did not significantly reduce postpartum depressive symptoms, and children's cognitive and language scores at 18 months matched controls.
David Liu
Cancer
How Does Induced Abortion Raise Breast Cancer Risk?
Surgeon Angela Lanfranchi contributes a piece arguing that growing evidence ties induced abortion, though not miscarriage, to higher breast cancer risk. She stresses it is one factor among many: most women with breast cancer never had an abortion, and most who have had one never get it.
Obesity
Pink News: Alcohol Raises Breast Cancer Risk
Alcohol makers are attaching pink ribbons to vodka, liqueurs and pink wines during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, though the National Toxicology Program lists alcoholic drinks as carcinogens. A study of 1,897 women ties drinking to recurrence, especially in postmenopausal and obese patients.
Avoiding Illness
Prenatal Influenza Vaccine May Prevent Flu in Infants
Infants whose mothers received influenza vaccine during pregnancy were 41% less likely to get laboratory-confirmed flu and 39% less likely to be hospitalized for flu-like illness, in a study following 1,269 women. Government agencies and vaccine makers funded the work.
Phytochemicals
Pink news: Soy protein cuts risk of breast cancer death
Among 5,042 Chinese breast cancer survivors followed about four years, women with the highest soy protein intake were 29 percent less likely to die and 32 percent less likely to suffer a recurrence than those eating the least, a JAMA study reports.
Cancer
Pink tips: How to prevent breast cancer
The writer walks through the American Cancer Society's breast cancer risk factors, separating unmodifiable ones such as gender, age and BRCA mutations from modifiable ones such as alcohol, obesity, inactivity and hormone use, and argues diet and lifestyle can still influence genetic risk.
Disease
ADHD is a genetic disorder - study suggests
A Lancet study found children with ADHD were more likely to carry small duplicated or missing DNA segments, some overlapping variants tied to autism and schizophrenia. The article stresses the study does not prove these copy number variants cause the disorder.
Cancer
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Physical Activity, Depression, Healthcare Reform
A study in Cancer analysed 1,162,596 Danish men and found those whose wives or girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer were 309 percent more likely to be hospitalized for a mood disorder such as major depression, suggesting male partners need emotional and social support.
Obesity
Sugary Sports Drinks Mistakenly Viewed as Healthy
A Pediatrics study of Texas 8th and 11th graders found students who ate well and exercised heavily also drank large amounts of flavored and sports drinks, while less active students with poorer diets favored soda. Ranjit says sports drinks carry little juice and extra calories.
Other Diseases
Mediterranean diet helps costly, deadly Alzheimer's disease
A report by Alzheimer's Disease International puts 2010 dementia care costs at $601 billion, more than 1% of global GDP, for an estimated 35.6 million people worldwide, with cases expected to double by 2030. Wealthy countries hold 46% of cases and 89% of the costs.
Drug
High-doses Aspirin relieves headache, migraine effectively
A Neurology study of 168 patients found intravenous high-dose aspirin cut pain 30 percent about a quarter of the time in people hospitalized for severe headache and migraine tied to drug withdrawal. UCSF says IV aspirin can cost $7 a dose against $22 a pill for triptans.
Disease
Worldwide dementia care costs $601 billion in 2010 - report
Alzheimer's Disease International puts 2010 care costs for 35.6 million people with dementia at $601 billion, more than 1 percent of global GDP. The report expects cases to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050, with costs rising fastest in the developing world.
Disease
More genetic variants affect breast cancer risk
A Mayo Clinic-led study identified five single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 19p13 that modify breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers. The same variants were tied to estrogen-receptor-negative and triple-negative breast cancer in women without BRCA1 mutations.
Drug
FDA okays three defibrillators to treat heart failure
FDA approved three Boston Scientific cardiac resynchronization defibrillators for heart failure patients with left bundle branch block. In a three-year trial of 1,820 patients, those with the block had 57 percent lower risk of death and heart failure than with a defibrillator alone.
Drug
FDA: Diabetes drug Actos linked to bladder cancer
The FDA said it is reviewing a possible link between the diabetes drug Actos and bladder cancer. Five years of manufacturer data showed a statistically insignificant 20% overall increase, but a significant rise among patients on the drug more than two years or at the highest doses.
Disease
Gene variant linked to aggressive Alzheimer's disease
Washington University researchers examined single DNA variations in 846 patients and reported in PLoS Genetics a variant tied to elevated tau in cerebrospinal fluid that tracked with faster Alzheimer's progression. Lead author Carlos Cruchaga says it held across three international studies.
Food
Corn sugar new name proposed for high fructose corn syrup
The Corn Refiners Association has asked the FDA to let manufacturers call high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar.” The article cites Princeton research reporting HFCS caused more weight gain in lab animals than table sugar at equal quantities, along with added abdominal fat and higher triglycerides.
Chemical
Nonstick Cookware Linked to High Serum Cholesterol
Stephanie Frisbee and West Virginia University colleagues measured serum lipids in 12,476 children and teens whose drinking water had been contaminated with PFOA, and report that the chemicals used to make Teflon may raise total and LDL cholesterol. Nearly all blood samples were contaminated.
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