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Journalism of Courage
Babies of heavy mothers have more fat, less muscle
Babies born to overweight or obese women have more fat and less muscle than those born to normal-weight moms. The study by researchers from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma is one of the first to compare newborns8217; body composition to their mothers8217; pre-pregnancy body mass index. Body weight alone, however, doesn8217;t provide a clear picture of infant growth and health, the researchers add; both low and high birth weight have been tied to an increased risk of diabetes and other conditions in adulthood. The report was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics 038; Gynecology.
ZERO TO 20
Multivitamins top diet supplement for teens
A study in Complementary and Alternative Medicine indicates that multivitamins and vitamin C top the list of dietary supplements used by adolescents, which is reassuring given the relative lack of health risks associated with them. But adolescents in the study who used prescription medications were also more likely to use dietary supplements. Doctors should ask young patients about supplements to avoid the possibility of harmful interactions, said researchers from Boston University Medical School.
20 to 40
Pregnant women not always truthful about alcohol
Women may not always tell the truth about their drinking habits during pregnancy, says a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. When researchers from Sweden8217;s Uppsala University surveyed 103 pregnant women about their alcohol use and tested their urine and hair to check for alcohol byproducts, they found that seven had levels 8220;highly suspicious of heavy drinking,8221; but just one admitted to drinking at all.
40 TO 60
Study highlights heart disease risk in India
India, expected to account for 60 per cent of the world8217;s heart disease cases by 2010, could prevent many deaths by ensuring that the poor get better access to treatment, Indian and Canadian researchers said in a study, published in Lancet. Heart patients in India get slower care than people in developed countries and are more likely to die. The rare in-depth look at heart disease care in India also shows heart patients tend to be younger, with an average age of 57, than heart patients in many other countries. Heart attack patients head to hospitals in rickshaws rather than ambulances, paying for the cheapest possible treatments out of their own pockets. India will account for 60 per cent of the world8217;s heart disease cases by 2010, concluded researchers at St. John8217;s National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore and Canada.
60 AND ABOVE
Getting in and out of cars risky for seniors
Older people should be careful when getting into cars, and even more so when getting out. An estimated 37,000 people 65 and older are injured each year when entering or exiting a vehicle, found researchers from US National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in Atlanta. About 40 per cent injuries were due to falls, the researchers noted in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Injuries were more than twice as likely to occur when a person is getting out of a vehicle than when entering the vehicle.
