Therapist Unlimited Blog

Medical researchers has warned pregnant mothers around the world to avoid constant exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) since it could cause congenital birth defects.
According to a medical study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, it was discovered that an increased risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects in their children.
Ann Aschengrau, from Boston University School of Public Health, USA, worked with a team of researchers to study the prevalence of birth defects in the children of women from 8 towns in Cape Cod who had been exposed to PCE during the period 1969-1983.
Aschengrau revealed the results suggest that the risk of certain congenital anomalies is increased among the offspring of women who were exposed to PCE-contaminated drinking water around the time of conception".

Pregnant women should keep their babies safe from birth defects by avoiding constant exposure to PCE.

From the late 1960s until 1980, hundreds of miles of pipe that had been lined with a vinyl coating containing PCE were laid in the area. It wasn’t until 1980 that officials realized the danger, creating what the researchers describe as "A vast natural experiment reminiscent of John Snow’s cholera investigation in 1854 London."
Boston University investigators found that there were 61 children with congenital anomalies among the 1,658 children with some prenatal PCE exposure and 95 children with congenital anomalies among 2,999 children with no prenatal PCE exposure.
Prenatal exposure was associated with increases in the risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects (particularly anencephaly).
Speaking about these findings, Aschengrau said, "Because PCE remains a commonly used solvent and frequent contaminant of ground and drinking water supplies, it is important to understand its impact on the developing fetus."
 

Researchers has recently discovered that women who get pregnant have a more positive outlook in life.
The researchers also found out that due to the positive effect of childbearing women are also protected against any negative impact on their body image.
The team who made the study also discovered that women’s interpersonal relationships were also very important in relation to their body image, and investment in their
relationships with their baby, partner, family and friends also seemed to protect against body image concerns.

Women who get pregnant have a more positive outlook in life due to their condition.

It is said that the result of the research confirmed the fact all along that giving birth is the greatest gift a woman could have in their lifetime.
Not all women were given the privilege to bore their own child so having the opportunity to get pregnant and eventually give birth is such a memorable moment for any woman in this planet.
It had been chronicled that despite the pain in giving birth to a child and the common instances of getting fat due to the situation, women still accept the responsibility bravely.

Researchers warned those persons who are taking depression medicines to be careful since new pieces of evidence have shown that it could affect the fertility of men.
According to the recent research conducted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center it was found out that the antidepressant medication paroxetine (trade names Seroxat, Paxil) may have increased sperm DNA fragmentation  a predictor of compromised fertility.
Based on the research made by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center it was also discovered that the changes are reversible with normal levels of sperm returning after discontinuation of the drug.
The researchers said this medical report should serve as warning to those taking depression medicines to be careful on the dosage of the medicine to avoid chances they will suffer from infertility.
Dr. Peter Schlegel, the study’s senior author revealed the study is considered as one of the first scientific investigations into the effect of antidepressants on sperm quality.

Those male patients taking depression medicines should be careful since the medication could result in infertility.

Schlegel added although their study doesn’t look directly at fertility, it can infer that as many as half of men taking SSRIs have a reduced ability to conceive.
He said these men should talk with their physician about their treatment options, including non-SSRI depression medications.
The lead researcher said the study also confirmed the effect of SSRIs on sexual function, with more than a third of study participants reporting significant changes in erectile function and almost half reporting ejaculatory difficulties.
With this finding those people who are regularly using depression medicines should always be careful in taking the drugs to avoid chances of suffering that their fertility will be affected.

Recent studies have shown that infants who excel at processing new information at 6- and 12-months-old, typically excel in intelligence and academic achievements as young adults in their 20’s.
The data was taken from the study made by Case Western Reserve University Psychologist Joseph Fagan.
Fagan and his team discovered that the more intelligent infant becomes the more intelligent and more highly achieving adult in the future.
The lead researcher explained intelligence involves processing new information and then making associations with other information an individual encounters throughout life.
He said these processes work together to allow an individual to grow in knowledge.

Babies who are intelligent have higher chances of carrying that ability in adulthood.

In the study conducted by the group, the infant test works by pairing two pictures together for a set period of time.
A researcher watches the length of time an infant looks at the pictures.
Then one of these pictures is paired with a new image and again the time the infant focuses on the new and old images is recorded.
Researchers said infants generally spend about 60 percent of the time looking at new images.
Fagan and his co-investigators Cynthia Holland from Cuyahoga Community College and undergraduate student Karyn Wheeler revisited 61 young adults, who had taken the Fagan Test as babies in their first year of life. They also looked at their first IQ tests at the age of 3 and compared them with their scores at 21 years old.
They discovered an association with intelligence between this early ability to process information and IQ during their young adult years.
The researchers said these infants with ability to process new information at an early age showed higher levels of academic achievement later in life.
Moreover, the researchers revealed that attention to novelty tells us that intelligence is continuous from infancy to adulthood and underscore the importance of information processing as a means for studying intelligence.
The researchers added that this knowledge may help researchers also understand how genetics and environment can influence intelligence.

A recent study has shown that the feelings of depression could be one reason patients fail to follow their doctors’ orders on exercising and eventually become less physically active.
It is said that although past research shows that exercise improves chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, it also shows that patients with these conditions often suffer from depression.
To get the result, the researchers evaluated 11 studies comprising some 20,000 patients.
Based on eight studies reported that having symptoms of depression after a coronary event, such as heart attack, was a significant risk factor for developing a sedentary lifestyle or a poor adherence to an exercise regimen recommended by the patients’ doctor.

Those patients who are less active could be suffering from depression.

Babak Roshanaei-Moghaddam, M.D. of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at University of Washington in Seattle and lead author of the study explained there are both behavioral habits associated with depression, such as smoking and obesity, which may then limit exercise motivation and enjoyment, as well as biologic factors that can cause obesity and decrease energy level, exercise tolerance and pain threshold.
Evette Joy Ludman, Ph.D., of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, who had no affiliation with the study, for her part said depression can indeed make people have less motivation and energy to exercise.
Ludman added the physical activity is not only important for preventing and managing many chronic conditions; it can be very helpful for improving mood and other symptoms of depression.

Parents should be more vigilant with regards to the television viewing and computer games playing of their children.
A recent study has shown that watching too much TV and playing computer games could result in high blood pressure for children.
Based on the study, the discovery is a major public health concern and its effect on blood pressure is of particular concern.
In their study, the researchers said the clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight youth suggests that risks may be immediate and not just indicative of potential future problems.
The researchers added although elevated blood pressure is associated with genetic factors, healthy physical, dietary and sleep habits seem to be relevant contributors to blood pressure levels in children.
However, the researchers revealed there have not been any clear links between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in children younger than age 9.

Children should avoid watching too much television and playing computer games since it could lead to high blood pressure.

David Martinez-Gomez, B.Sc., of Iowa State University, Ames, and the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain, and colleagues examined associations between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in 111 young children (57 boys and 54 girls ages 3 to 8).
According to their research they found out that sedentary behavior was determined by an accelerometer generally worn over the right hip and by parental reports stating the average time the children spent watching TV, playing video games, painting, sitting or taking part in other activities with low levels of physical activity each day for seven days.
Moreover, the researchers said the results of this study showed that TV viewing and screen time were associated with elevated blood pressure independent of body composition in children.
The researchers added given that total objective sedentary time was not associated with elevated blood pressure, it appears that other factors, which occur during excessive screen time, should also be considered in the context of sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure development in children.

Here is a piece of advice to parents to keep their child away from depression from preschool.
This developed after a recent study has shown that depression in preschool could last until childhood.
According to the study, depression among preschoolers appears to be a continuous, chronic condition rather than a transient developmental stage.
The researchers revealed the validity of major depressive disorder in childhood has been well established, with the disorder now widely recognized and treated in mental health settings.
Joan L. Luby, M.D., and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied 306 preschoolers age 3 to 6. Of these, 75 met criteria for major depressive disorder, 79 had anxiety or disruptive disorders but not depression and 146 did not meet criteria for any psychiatric disorder.
It is said that a comprehensive three- to four-hour laboratory assessment was completed at the beginning of the study.
While children completed measures of emotional, cognitive and social development, primary caregivers were interviewed separately about the preschoolers’ psychiatric symptoms and developmental skills.
Similar developmental and behavioral assessments were conducted 12 and 24 months later.

Parents should do their best to help their children cope up with depression in preschool, so that their medical condition could not last until childhood.

The researchers explained preschoolers with depression at baseline had the highest likelihood of subsequent depression 12 and/or 24 months later compared with preschoolers with no baseline disorder and with those who had other psychiatric disorders.
After controlling for other demographic variables and risk factors, preschoolers with depression at the beginning of the study had a four times greater likelihood of having depression one and two years later than preschoolers without depression.
The condition also showed a chronic and recurrent course among preschoolers-in a subset of 119 preschoolers with depression or depressive symptoms who were screened by phone at six and 18 months, 57 percent of those with depression had an episode during at least two follow-up points during study and 18 percent followed a chronic course, defined as having an episode in at least four waves of the study.
Furthermore, the researchers said these results underscore the clinical and public health importance of identification of depression as early as preschool.
The researchers explained early intervention during the preschool period has proved effective in other childhood disorders.
The researchers added the study findings that demonstrate longitudinal stability and homotypic continuity of preschool major depressive disorder suggest that earlier interventions for major depressive disorder during the preschool period may be an important area for investigation in the search for more effective treatments for childhood major depressive disorder.

Health authorities in the United States are now doubling efforts to stop the spread of the deadly swine flu virus.
This developed after a recent study has shown that 40% of the country’s whole population could be infected with the swine flu (H1N1) virus over the next 24 months if the proper prevention is not implemented.
Medical experts said the estimates are based on data gleaned from the 1957 flu pandemic which killed nearly 70,000 people in the country.
That pandemic was not as severe as the 1918-1919 Spanish flu one.
The researchers revealed if one hundred and twenty million people caught swine flu this time round, and vaccine campaigns were not successful, the eventual death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands.
The researchers added such a level of infection would be double the expected number during a normal flu season.
However, the researchers said if an effective vaccine were to come out in time, many immunized people would show no symptoms that is, if the vaccine worked and
authorities managed to get enough of them out there.

Proper prevention should be implemented to stop the spread of the deadly swine flu virus which could inflect 40 percent of Americans in two years time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informs that approximately 160 million doses of swine flu vaccines should be available in October, as long as they pass testing.
Testing has not started yet but will soon, officials say.
Researchers at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development say testing will start in August, involving 1,000 volunteers in 8 centers around the country.
The American Medical Association estimates that approximately 36,000 Americans die each year from flu and complications from flu.
About 2 billion people are expected to become infected with swine flu worldwide over the next 24 months, the World Health
Organization (WHO) estimates. WHO added that we are in the initial phase of the current pandemic.
WHO has asked countries to seriously consider closing schools as a measure to slow down the spread of infection.
It is now virtually impossible to know accurately how many people have been infected so far.
A significant proportion of infected individuals never goes and sees their doctor and recovers completely by staying at home and self-medicating with OTC drugs. Others may go to see their doctor with some mild flu like symptoms and be sent home and told to drink plenty of fluids and rest.
Officials at the CDC say that it is likely that over one million Americans have so far been infected since the virus first started infecting people in April this year.
American and Japanese researchers have discovered that the Swine Flu virus reaches deeper into the lungs than normal seasonal flu. This may well indicate that it is more virulent than first thought.

Smokers who smoked five cigarettes a day are at high risk of suffering from migraines.
According to a recent research, smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that trigger an attack.
The finding was taken from the study made on 361 medicine students from the University of Salamanca in Spain.
The researchers found out that 16% of students fulfilled migraine criteria, while 20% smoked.
The researchers also found out that the percentage of smokers was higher (29%) in those who were also migraine sufferers and migraine frequency in those
students who were migraine sufferers and smokers was clearly higher than in those who were non-smokers and migraine sufferers.

Smoking five cigarettes a day could lead to migraines.

Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor at the Neurology Unit of Marqués de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander) said smoking is a precipitating factor of this type of headache, as the prevalence of active smokers is one third higher in migraine sufferers and there is a direct relationship between the number of cigarettes consumed and the frequency of migraine attacks.
Pascual and his team stressed the importance of the dosage. The results of the interviews reveal that the migraine sets in after five daily cigarettes.
He said although the percentage of those who smoked was higher in people with migraines, they smoked less than those who did not suffer migraines.

PREGNANT women if possible should avoid taking anti-epilepsy drugs since doing so could affect the intelligence quotient of their unborn child.
Recent research at the University of Liverpool suggest that children aged three years and younger, who are born to women taking the anti-epileptic drug sodium valproate whilst pregnant, are likely to have an IQ of six to nine points lower than average.
The study looks into 300 three-year-olds in the UK and US, whose mothers took one of four anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) while pregnant.
According to the initial findings those children exposed to the drug sodium valproate had lower IQ results than children exposed to other AEDs, regardless of the mother’s IQ.
The researchers also took dosage, duration of pregnancy and mother’s consumption of folic acid while pregnant.

A recent study has shown that an anti-epilepsy drug has harmful effects on IQ of unborn children.

Gus Baker, professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Liverpool explained their research looked at how exposure to sodium valproate and other AEDs in the womb affected children’s everyday life in particular their IQ, memory and language
abilities from one to six years of age.
Based on studies, some 5,000 women with epilepsy become pregnant every year in the UK and the majority of these, including those on AEDs, will experience uncomplicated pregnancies and births.
Earlier studies on the matter has already shown that children exposed to AEDs such as sodium valproate in the womb are more likely to suffer birth defects characterized by
heart malformations, dysmorphic features and minor limb deformities.
Baker said the answer is not as simple as to take women off AEDs altogether as the effects of suffering a seizure can also pose a risk for both mother and unborn child.
He said it is vital that the research is now used to educate women with epilepsy before they start to plan for a family.
Furthermore, Baker said women need to be aware of the risks so that they can make informed choices with the help and advice of experts.
Baker said it is also important that women do not stop taking AED treatment without taking advice from their medical practitioner.
He said it is important to stress that sodium valproate is used globally and it has a favorable safety profile for all adult patients who use it.
He added it has a range of pharmaceutical uses including bipolar disorder, migraine, epilepsy, and in adults sodium valproate is extremely effective.