Chronic stress during pregnancy prevents brain benefits of motherhood

A new study in animals shows that chronic stress during pregnancy prevents brain benefits of motherhood, a finding that researchers suggest could increase understanding of postpartum depression.

Rat mothers showed an increase in brain cell connections in regions associated with learning, memory and mood.

In contrast, the brains of mother rats that were stressed twice a day throughout pregnancy did not show this increase.

The researchers were specifically interested in dendritic spines – hair-like growths on brain cells that are used to exchange information with other neurons.

Previous animal studies conducted by lead author Benedetta Leuner of Ohio State University showed that an increase of dendritic spines in new mothers’ brains was associated with improved cognitive function on a task that requires behavioral flexibility – in essence, enabling more effective multitasking.

The dendritic spines increased by about 20 percent in these brain regions in new mothers, according to her findings.

The stress in this new study negated those brain benefits of motherhood, causing the stressed rats’ brains to match brain characteristics of animals that had no reproductive or maternal experience.

The stressed rats also had less physical interaction with their babies than did unstressed rats, a behaviour observed in human mothers who experience postpartum depression.

“Animal mothers in our research that are unstressed show an increase in the number of connections between neurons. Stressed mothers don’t,” said Leuner, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Ohio State.

“We think that makes the stressed mothers more vulnerable. They don’t have the capacity for brain plasticity that the unstressed mothers do, and somehow that’s contributing to their susceptibility to depression.”


Previous research has suggested that there are a number of risk factors for postpartum depression, including hormone fluctuations, prior history of mental illness and environmental factors such as smoking or low socioeconomic status.

One of the strongest predictors, however, is chronic stress during pregnancy, so Leuner sought to create an animal model that could help explain brain changes linked to postpartum depression.

“It’s devastating not only for the mother, because it affects her well-being, but previous research also has shown that children of depressed mothers have impaired cognitive and social development, may have impaired physical development, and are more likely as adults to have depression or anxiety,” she said.

“A better understanding of postpartum depression is important to help the mother but also to prevent some of the damaging effects that this disorder can have on the child.”

The researchers exposed pregnant rats to stress twice a day by limiting their mobility on some days and on other days placing them in water. For three weeks after the rats gave birth, Leuner and colleagues monitored the rats.

The animals showed classic signs of the effects of stress, including lower than normal weight gain and enlarged adrenal glands, a sign of high stress-hormone production. The mothers stressed during pregnancy also gave birth to smaller pups.

“And they were not very good mothers,” Leuner said. After separation from pups for 30 minutes, unstressed mothers would gather up their babies, put them in the nest and nurse them. Stressed mother rats left the pups scattered around, wandered around the cage and fed the babies less frequently.

The stressed mother rats also exhibited more floating than unstressed rats in a water test; animals that float rather than swim are showing depressive-like symptoms.

“These findings in rats mimic some of the symptoms that are seen in women with postpartum depression,” Leuner said.

An examination of the animals’ brains showed that the rats exposed to chronic stress did not grow the additional dendritic spines in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex that the unstressed mother rats did.

The stressed rats’ brains more closely resembled the brains of control rats that had never been mothers.

“We don’t yet know what the exact trigger is for the increase in spines in motherhood, but we know that the increase goes away with stress,” Leuner said.

She is continuing the work by investigating whether the beneficial effects of motherhood on cognitive functions are also blocked in mothers who are exposed to pregnancy stress as well as whether hormonal factors play a role.

NASA Maps Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution

In many developing countries, the absence of surface-based air pollution sensors makes it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to get even a rough estimate of the abundance of a subcategory of airborne particles that epidemiologists suspect contributes to millions of premature deaths each year.

The problematic particles, called fine particulate matter (PM2.5), are 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, about a tenth the fraction of human hair. These small particles can get past the body’s normal defenses and penetrate deep into the lungs.

To fill in these gaps in surface-based PM2.5 measurements, experts look toward satellites to provide a global perspective.

Yet, satellite instruments have generally struggled to achieve accurate measurements of the particles in near-surface air.

The problem: Most satellite instruments can't distinguish particles close to the ground from those high in the atmosphere.

In addition, clouds tend to obscure the view and bright land surfaces, such as snow, desert sand, and those found in certain urban areas can mar measurements.

However, the view got a bit clearer this summer with the publication of the first long-term global map of PM2.5 in a recent issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

Canadian researchers Aaron van Donkelaar and Randall Martin at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, created the map by blending total-column aerosol amount measurements from two NASA satellite instruments with information about the vertical distribution of aerosols from a computer model.

Read more of this article here: NASA - Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution

Lunar IBS: Fart in a Spacesuit

The worst case of Lunar IBS recorded was never caught on film but has been re-animated in this graphic representation. In Space no-one can hear you fart!

In early expeditions, pressurised suit had to be vented at regular intervals to prevent a catastrophic build up of gases.

SpaceX Dragon Spaceship: Safety Panel Includes Former Astronauts and Space Experts

Credit: SpaceX/Dragon Spacecraft

The private spaceflght company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is aiming to launch the first crewed commercial spaceship to the International Space Station and has assembled a team of experts and former astronauts to help make it happen.

To that end, the Hawthorne, Calif., based SpaceX has established an independent safety advisory panel has been established to provide an objective review of the company's Dragon space capsule and its carrier, the Falcon 9 rocket, the company announced Thursday (March 29).

SpaceX is already designing an unmanned capsule, called Dragon, to bring supplies to and from the space station. A crucial test flight of the Dragon capsule is scheduled to occur on April 30, but the company is also working toward its other goal of one day using a version of Dragon to taxi astronauts to the orbiting outpost.

"When it comes to manned spaceflight, safety is our top priority," Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, said in a statement. "These experts will provide us with important insights as we prepare to carry astronauts on the next generation of American spacecraft."

Major breakthrough in preventing premature birth

A groundbreaking clinical study of a new method for preventing premature birth in millions of women each year, published in the medical journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, shows that the rate of early pre-term delivery in women (<33 weeks) can be reduced by 45%, simply by treating pregnant women at risk with a low-cost gel of natural progesterone during the mid-trimester of pregnancy until term.

The peer-reviewed findings were led by the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, housed by the Wayne State University School of Medicine at Hutzel Hospital in Detroit. The findings are certain to have substantial impact on the practice of medicine, according to the principal investigator of the three-year clinical trial.

The study is entitled Vaginal progesterone reduces the rate of pre-term birth in women with a sonographic short cervix: a multicenter, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. “The study published today offers hope to women, families and children,” said Dr. Roberto Romero, Chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the NIH.

“Worldwide, more than 12 million premature babies (500,000 of them in the US) are born each year, and the results are often tragic. Our clinical study clearly shows that it is possible to identify women at risk and reduce the rate of pre-term delivery by nearly half, simply by treating women who have a short cervix with a natural hormone – progesterone.” Dr. Romero, principal investigator of the study, and Sonia S. Hassan, M.D., the lead author of the study.

Sonia S. Hassan is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the WSU School of Medicine. He also pointed out that numerous studies (many by the PRB) over the past decade have shown that ultrasound of the uterine cervix can identify pregnant women who are at high risk for pre-term delivery.

The ultrasound examination is simple to perform, painless, and can be performed between the 19th and 24th weeks of pregnancy. Pregnant women with a short cervix (one that is < 20mm) are at very high risk for preterm delivery.

Dr. Romero added that, once a high-risk mother for pre-term delivery has been identified, she can be offered treatment with progesterone. Of major interest is that progesterone reduced the risk of preterm delivery not only at <33 weeks, but also at <28 weeks (one of the secondary endpoints of the study).

It also reduced the rate of infant respiratory distress syndrome, the most common complication of premature babies. “We believe that the data in our study speaks for itself – and we predict that it will have major implications for obstetrics.”
 
Read more here

Helicobacter pylori infection linked to decreased iron levels in healthy children

Children without previous iron deficiencies or anemia who remained infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) had significantly lower levels of iron compared to children who had the infection eradicated, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

“Half of the world’s population is infected with H. pylori and most of the individuals are asymptomatically infected, according to several surveys,” said Victor Cardenas, M.D., Ph.D., lead investigator of the study and associate professor of epidemiology at The University of Texas School of Public Health El Paso Regional Campus, part of UTHealth. “What we learned in this study is not only does H. pylori cause iron deficiency anemia and iron-deficiency, but that even among children who do not have these conditions, their levels of iron are lower than otherwise healthy children.” The research is published in the March issue of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

Researchers investigated the link between H. pylori infection and iron levels in non-iron-deficient preschool and school age children in El Paso and found the infection causes a decrease in the levels of iron in children who do not have anemia or an iron deficiency. The bacterium H. pylori infects the lining of the stomach resulting in chronic swelling of tissue, a condition known as gastritis. H. pylori is also a major cause of peptic ulcer disease and the cause of most cancers of the stomach, according to the World Health Organization.

“Iron is an essential nutrient which supports several body functions and exists in small amounts in the body, but it is also required by bacteria such as H. pylori,” said Cardenas. “The infection decreases the body’s natural progression of making iron.” According to Cardenas, this is the first study conducted in the contiguous U.S. to examine the role of the infection on the levels of iron levels in asymptomatic children.

Over time markers of iron stored in the body increased in children no longer infected. However, children who remained infected lagged in levels of one marker, serum ferritin, at their six month follow-up. The protein serum ferritin measures the amount of iron stored in your body, according to the National Institute of Health.

“Previous research has shown that iron levels correlate with several body functions including brain activity and have well documented long-term health consequences such as increased morbidity and mortality and loss of productivity,” said Cardenas. “There is a need to research the long-term consequences of asymptomatic H. pylori infections in those without an iron deficiency because the effect we found could be present among those with normal iron levels.”

Cardenas and his team used a previously tested therapy, which consisted of one antacid plus one antibiotic for five days, followed by the antacid plus two antibiotics for another five days. While previous studies resulted in high rates of success in eradicating H. pylori, only half of the children given the active medications in Cardenas’ study had their infection eradicated, a disappointing result, he said.

Cardenas questions whether asymptomatic H. pylori infections have any significant health consequences. “We want to further investigate if there is a relation between variations of the bacteria strains and iron in adults,” said Cardenas.

Members of the research team led by Cardenas included investigators from Baylor College of Medicine, The University of North Texas, The University of Texas at El Paso and Texas Tech University Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The research was funded by the Thrasher Research Fund.

Artificial Kidney Implant good news for patients

About 85,000 people need kidney transplants each year, but fewer than 20,000 kidneys are available. To survive, people with chronic kidney disease must undergo dialysis for 4 hours at a time, multiple times each week.

UCSF Professor of Bioengineering, Shuvo Roy, PhD, is leading a team of researchers to develop an implantable artificial kidney that could make dialysis a thing of the past.

Healthy Foods That May Help Fight Against Prostate Cancer

Are we wholly convinced that eating a healthy diet helps protect us from all sorts of ailments, or are we only half convinced?

Some of us think that green apples are better for us and some prefer red but most of the time we are just looking at the skin. The real nutritional value is on the inside. Let's look deeper.

Some foods are healthier than others and some may even help protect you from, or reduce the risk of, developing chronic conditions e.g. cancer, primarily bowel and intestinal cancers.

However, knowing exactly which foods are beneficial and which ones are harmful can help to shape a diet to achieve its maximum health potential.

Prostrate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and although not every man dies of prostrate cancer, a very large proportion of elderly men do develop it, late in life. Even men who die of heart conditions, and other chronic diseases will also have a certain level of prostrate cancer.

So, let us take a good hard look at foods that may help protect you against prostate cancer or at least reduce the risk of developing it, until very late in life. Here are a few.

1. Tomatoes

The Active ingredient(s) we like here is; Lycopene, an antioxidant

Lycopene is an antioxidant compound, a carotenoid, which gives tomatoes their red colouring. It is also one of the most widely studied anti-cancer agents. A 2004 review of all the studies to date on tomatoes found a slight reduction in the risk of developing prostate cancer in men with high blood levels of lycopene or with diets rich in tomatoes. In 2007, however, the largest study of its kind disputed these results.

Fortunately, further studies of greater quality are currently underway that will hopefully clarify the situation. Whilst waiting on those results, it is well to note that tomatoes are still chock-full of other beneficial vitamins and antioxidants and, therefore, this little red fruit should be a part of any healthy diet.

How best to prepare them? When it comes to tomatoes, the general rule of thumb is to add heat and low cholesterol fats, whenever possible. The more processed the tomatoes and the longer you cook them, the more lycopene is released. Adding fat in the way of oils or meats will also improve lycopene absorption. So, a long slow cook that produces a delicious pasta sauce, is just what the doctors order.

2. Broccoli

The Active ingredient(s) here is; Sulforaphane, among others

You should always eat your broccoli. In fact, all cruciferous vegetables, like cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts, appear to offer good anti-cancer benefits. Although it’s still not clear which of the many beneficial chemicals or compounds found in broccoli is most responsible for protecting your health, sulforaphane has been the most widely investigated.

Just how does it prevent cancer? Well, sulforaphane might act as an antioxidant itself or it may instead boost detoxifying enzymes in the body. Regardless of how broccoli helps, it’s clear that it is a potent anti-prostate cancer vegetable. Some experts even suggest that it’s one of the strongest anti-cancer fighters we have. The Chinese are certainly big fans.

How best should you prepare it? When it comes to the method of preparing your broccoli, there is no clear-cut champion, so try to mix things up each time you dine. Eat it raw sometimes, steamed others, and if you boil it, try not to overcook it. Mixing it with other anti-prostate cancer foods such as tomatoes may even enhance anti-cancer effects according to one study done on mice.

3. Soy

The Active ingredient(s) here is; Isoflavones, such as genistein, daidzein and glycitein

Soy refers to the soybean, a high-protein legume that comes in many consumer-friendly forms including soy milk, tofu and protein powder. Soy is promoted for its protective properties against many cancers, among them prostate cancer. The effects of soy are thought to be due to isoflavones, compounds that are sometimes called plant estrogens because they mimic the actions of human estrogen, but in plants.

A number of laboratory, animal and population-based studies have shown soy to be an anti-prostate cancer food. However, these results still need to be confirmed in clinical trials. Even without those results, simply using soy as a replacement for meat or dairy may be beneficial on its own, since diets high in meats and dairy tend to increase the risk of certain cancers.

How best should you prepare it? The amount of isoflavone varies by type of soy product and there is generally no rule to help you pick one product over another. Until there is, just keep meals varied and opt for soy products instead of meats and dairy from time to time.

4. Flax

The Active ingredient(s) here is; Lignans, and alpha linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid)

Flax is an annual plant used in making the fabric known as linen. Although flaxseed is high in omega-3, it is also rich in lignans, a class of phytoestrogen that may act as an antioxidant. Both flaxseed and its oil have been promoted as anti-cancer substances since the early 1950s, but only recently has any solid evidence emerged.

Unfortunately, only a handful of small studies have investigated the link between flax and prostate cancer in humans, but the results all look promising. Of course, further studies will be needed to definitively close the chapter on flax and cancer, but that shouldn’t keep you from getting your flax fix.

How best should you prepare it? As far as versatility is concerned, flaxseed is certainly the most flexible of the anti-prostate cancer foods. Flaxseed is available in flour, meal and seed form and can be found in multigrain breads, cereals, breakfast bars, and even muffins. Flaxseed oil can also be found in pure liquid form or as capsules.

You Are What You Eat
Rigorous research takes time, money and effort, unfortunately, one, if not two, may be lacking. There are simply so many foods and supplements available that researching them all is not only impractical, but likely impossible.

Having said that, the key to preventing prostate cancer via diet is to eat a well-balanced meal, including all of the above foods, along with a hearty serving of other fruits and vegetables. You can dabble in meats and dairy, but if possible, keep your dabbling to a minimum.

Does Aspirin Reduce the Chance of Colon Cancer

People with a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer could cut their chances of developing the disease in half by taking a daily dose of aspirin, researchers said Monday.

The finding might lead to other treatments by helping researchers understand how aspirin combats colon cancer, one of the top three cancers in rich countries.

Though aspirin has been used widely for years to treat minor aches and to alleviate fevers, it can irritate the stomach and intestines and cause major bleeding.

European researchers followed more than 1,000 people with Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation that makes them vulnerable to cancers in the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. The syndrome accounts for about 5 percent of all colon cancers.

About half of the study participants were given 600 milligrams, or two aspirin pills daily, while the other half got placebo pills for about four years.

In the group that got aspirin, six people developed colon cancer, versus 16 in the group that got placebos. "We are delighted," said John Burn of Newcastle University in Britain, who led the study.

"All the more so because we stopped giving the aspirin after four years, yet the effect is continuing," he said in a statement.

Burn presented the study results Monday in Berlin at a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organisation and the European Society for Medical Oncology.

Experts said the finding would have no immediate impact on the general public.

"This doesn't mean that everyone should start taking aspirin if they're worried about bowel cancer," said Henry Snowcroft of Cancer Research United Kingdom.

"Aspirin can cause significant side effects if not used as directed by a doctor," Snowcroft said.

Previous studies have found patients who already have colon cancer and are being treated with chemotherapy and surgery may further reduce their risk of dying by up to 30 percent by taking aspirin. The cheap drug is also taken by millions of people worldwide to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Mosquito: The Human World's Deadliest Enemy

AP/PA Photos

The mosquito rarely lives longer than a month and is not as ferocious or visually intimidating as a raging carnivore, but it comes in much more regular and intimate contact with humans, than any other dangerous creature. It also rapidly spreads deadly and contagious diseases, leading to the death of more humans, than any other member of the animal kingdom. By injecting parasites and viruses into the blood stream, the mosquito causes upwards of two million deaths a year. According to Dr. Mark Rowland of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, malaria is responsible for 800,000 to one million of those deaths. Malaria, Elephantiasis, West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever, etc are all deadly diseases that are spread by mosquitoesand there are many more. While the most dangerous breeds of the bug are local to Africa, Asia and North America, it’s still a good idea to stock up on bug repellent for those humid, mosquito-filled nights.

Nil By Mouth: Sokeless Tobacco Kills

The discovery of a new range of cancer-causing chemicals in smokeless tobacco has backed up advice that it's not a "safe" alternative to cigarettes.

Called polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the chemicals contaminate smoke from cigarettes and wood fires, but were assumed to be absent from smokeless tobacco products such as moist snuff because users hold it in their mouths – between lip and gum – rather than burning it.

Now researchers have found that popular moist snuff products on sale in the US contain at least 22 PAHs, probably because the tobacco is exposed to wood smoke during its curing process.

Moist snuff, also called snus, is mostly used in North America and Scandinavia, but is banned from sale in all European Union countries except Sweden.

Five pack

A typical dose of moist snuff has the same PAH content as five cigarettes, said Irina Stepanov of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis as she presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society on 16 August in Washington DC.

Moist snuff consumption, which doubled in the US between 1986 and 2005, has been linked with increased risks of mouth and pancreatic cancers. The PAHs add to 28 cancer-causing chemicals including nicotine and nitrosamines previously identified in the snuff.

"The use of smokeless tobacco carries very serious risks and the new findings on PAH levels underscore this," says David Hammond of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, who monitors the safety of tobacco products. He warns, however, that smoke from cigarettes remains the biggest tobacco-related cancer risk.