'Babies conceived in spring more likely to be premature' New York: Medical literature is rife with research linking birth months to the risk of various chronic conditions. While intriguing,many of these studies have been flawed methodologically. But a recent study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may be the largest to demonstrate a persuasive connection between the season of conception and at least one important outcome: preterm birth. The researchers,at Princeton University,studied more than 1.4 million births in New York City,New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They found that babies conceived in May were 10 per cent more likely to be premature. But they suspected that this was because mothers were nearing full term in January and February,when seasonal flu cases spike. They also found that babies conceived during the summer weighed up to 9 g more than other infants,which they chalked up to seasonal patterns in pregnancy weight gain. NYT Exercise may reduce stroke risk Washington: People who exercise enough to break a sweat may reduce their risk of stroke compared to those who are physically inactive,a first-of-its-kind study has found. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found the relationship between exercise and stroke in a large biracial cohort of men and women in the US. Using 27,000 stroke-free people aged 45 and older in the US from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study cohort,researchers examined the association of self-reported physical activity with incident of stroke. The results showed that physical inactivity was reported by 33 per cent of participants and was associated with a 20 per cent increased risk of stroke. Those who reported they exercised at least four times a week were less likely to experience a stroke or mini-stroke. PTI
