Second-hand Smoke Linked To Psychological Problems In Kids

Children whose mothers were exposed to second-hand smoke while they were pregnant have more symptoms of serious psychological problems compared to the offspring of women who had no prenatal exposure to smoke, according to a new University of Washington study.

Writing in the current issue of Child Psychiatry and Human Development, UW psychologists Lisa Gatzke-Kopp and Theodore Beauchaine provide the first evidence linking mothers’ second-hand smoke exposure while pregnant to their children’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder. Psychologists call these behaviors externalizing psychopathology and their symptoms include aggressive behavior, ADHD, defiance and conduct disorder, which encompasses truancy, fighting, school failure, breaking rules, substance use, stealing and destruction of property.

The research also supports a 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General that found passive smoke exposure poses a substantial risk to the general health of those who breathe the smoke, as well as to the fetuses of pregnant women.

Gatzke-Kopp and Beauchaine compared patterns psychopathology among three groups of 7- to 15-year-old children, all of whom had significant behavioral and/or emotional problems. One group experienced no prenatal smoke exposure. The second was made up of children whose mothers smoked during the final two trimesters of pregnancy. The third consisted of children whose mothers were exposed to second-hand smoke at work or in the home in the last two trimesters during pregnancy. A total of 171 children, primarily boys, and 133 women participated in the project.

The UW researchers found that those children whose mothers had been exposed to tobacco smoke either by smoking or by being around smokers when they were pregnant had more symptoms of ADHD and conduct disorder than children whose mothers spent their pregnancies in a smoke-free environment. However, they did not show more symptoms of emotional disorders such as depression or anxiety.

“This is a matter of severity,” said Gatzke-Kopp, a post-doctoral researcher.

“Children with these disorders have a range of behaviors that stretch from problematic to severe. It is a continuum based on the number of symptoms, and children who were exposed to smoke exhibited more symptoms.”

She and Beauchaine controlled for a number of other factors including family income, parents’ substance use, birth weight and parents’ anti-social behavior, but second-hand exposure to smoking persisted as the primary predictor of conduct disorder and ADHD.

Nicotine, an alkaloid compound in tobacco, is believed to be the chemical that causes these behavior problems in children. Animal studies have shown that nicotine affects brain development during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, causing changes in brain regions critical to the development of externalizing psychopathology in humans.

“Evidence suggests that the dopamine system in the brain gets over stimulated during pregnancy,” Beauchaine said. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays an important role in behavior and cognition, among other functions. “

“As a consequence, children who were exposed to smoke in utero have colic and are hard to sooth as infants. As toddlers they are overactive and oppositional. Later on they are irritable, inattentive and low on pleasure.”

Gatzke-Kopp and Beauchaine believe a message needs to be distributed widely that regardless of how women are exposed to tobacco smoke, either directly or second-hand smoke, their unborn children’s behavior can be affected.

Gene Discovered Which Increases Risk Of Gallstones

Scientists at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Romania, have discovered a gene variant that significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones (Hepatology No. 46, 11 July 2007, DOI 10.1002/hep.21847). It is estimated that one in ten Europeans has this variant in their hereditary disposition. For those affected, the likelihood of developing a gallstone in the course of their life is two to three times higher. The relevant gene contains the instructions for building a molecular pump which transports cholesterol from the liver into the bile ducts — cholesterol being the substance from which most gallstones are formed. The genetic modification appears to cause this pump to work permanently at high speed. Gallstones are a common disorder: in Germany alone more than 170,000 gallbladder operations a year are performed.

Gallstones occur very frequently, affecting 15 to 20 per cent of all Germans, usually without noticeable symptoms. But in around a quarter of cases the stones will announce their presence at some time in the form of a painful colic. In the end they often have to be operated. “Gallstones are among the gastrointestinal problems that incur the highest treatment costs,” says Professor Dr. Frank Lammert, the Bonn-based specialist for internal medicine.

Gallstones tend to be found at high levels within certain families. In particular, studies of twins provide evidence of a genetic component that boosts risk levels. “We reckon that environmental influences, like the wrong diet, are 70 to 80 per cent responsible for the disorder,” explains Lammert who works in the university hospital’s Department I headed by Professor Dr. Tilman Sauerbruch. “The rest is caused by genes.”

Professor Lammert — working together with his colleagues Dr. Frank Gruenhage, Maja Walier and Professor Dr. Thomas Wienker as well as scientists at the University Clinic of Cluj-Napoca in Romania — has been searching for the specific genes involved. And he has succeeded, thanks to a study covering 178 women and men from 84 families. They all suffer from gallstones. In 21.4 per cent of cases the subjects were found to be carrying a particular gene variant. In healthy individuals studied as a control group, this variant also occurred, but only at a frequency of 8.6 per cent.

Cholesterol pump at full speed

“The mutation concerns what is known as the ABCG8-gene,” Dr. Gruenhage explains. “It contains the instructions for building a pump responsible for transporting the blood lipid cholesterol from the liver into the bile ducts.” Most of the gallstones consist to a high degree of crystallised cholesterol. The medical researcher concludes that, “The genetic alteration probably makes the pump run permanently at high speed.”

The researchers now hope that their finding will have positive consequences for prevention and therapy. Professor Lammert thinks that, “It may be possible for certain patients to be helped with drug treatments in future, thus avoiding the need for an operation.” However, the genetic contribution to the common problem of gallstones has not been fully explained by this study: “We believe there are at least three or four other gene variants that increase gallstone risk,” says the medical scientist.

8 Plants From South Africa May Hold Potential For Treating High Blood Pressure

Medicinal plants are an integral part of African culture, one of the oldest and most diverse in the world. In South Africa, 21st century drug therapy is used side-by-side with traditional African medicines to heal the sick. While plants have been used in African medicine to treat fever, asthma, constipation, esophageal cancer and hypertension, scientific analyses of the purported benefits of many plants is still scant. A team of researchers has now examined the effectiveness of 16 plants growing in the country’s Kwa-Zulu Natal region and concluded that eight plant extracts may hold value for treating high blood pressure (hypertension).

The study, entitled ACE Inhibitor Activity of Nutritive Plants in Kwa-Zulu Natal, was conducted by Irene Mackraj and S. Ramesar, both of the Department of Physiology and Physiological Chemistry; and H. Baijnath, Department of Biological and Conservation Sciences; University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa. Dr. Mackraj presented the team’s findings at the 120th annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS; http://www.the-aps.org/), held as part of the Experimental Biology (EB ‘07) conference. More than 12,000 scientific researchers attended the gathering held at the Washington, DC Convention Center.

Background and Methodology

Hypertension is treated with medication, including drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB). These drugs not only lower blood pressure but offer additional protection to the brain and heart. ACEI, in particular, provide beneficial properties to patients with type 1 diabetes.

In an effort to identify indigenous plants consumed by the local population in Kwa-Zulu Natal that hold potential antihypertensive properties, the researchers examined 16 plants to identify ACE inhibitor activity. The plants were:

* Amaranthus dubius, a flowering plant also known as spleen amaranth

* Amaranthus hybridus, commonly known as smooth pigweed or slim amaranth

* Amaranthus spinosus, also known as spiny amaranth

* Asystasia gangetica, an ornamental, ground cover known as Chinese violet. Also used in Nigerian folk medicine for the management of asthma.

* Centella asiatica, a small herbaceous annual plant commonly referred to as Asiatic pennywort

* Ceratotheca triloba, a tall annual plant that flowers in summer sometimes referred to as poppy sue

* Chenopodium album, also called lamb’s quarters, this is a weedy annual plant

* Emex australis, commonly known as southern three corner jack

* Galinsoga parviflora, commonly referred to as gallant soldier

* Justicia flava, also known as yellow justicia and taken for coughs and treatment of fevers

* Momordica balsamina, an African herbal traditional medicine also known as the balsam apple

* Oxygonum sinuatum, an invasive weed with no common name

* Physalis viscosa, known as starhair ground cherry

* Senna occidentalis, a very leafy tropical shrub whose seeds have been used in coffee; called septic weed

* Solanum nodiflorum, also known as white nightshade

* Tulbaghia violacea, a bulbous plant with hairless leaves often referred to as society or wild garlic

Dried leaves from the plants were ground and used to prepare organic and acqueous extracts. Ten grams of ground plant material was suspended in either a methanol or distilled water solution for 48 hours. Each solution was subsequently filtered and the filtrate was left to air dry resulting in the specific test compound. ACE activity was determined using a flourimetric method with Hip-His-Leu as a substrate. The fluorescence of the o-phthaldialdehyde was measured to determine the effect of the plant on ACE activity.

Plasma ACE activity was determined using rat plasma. The IC50 of the conventional ACEI, captopril was determined to test the sensitivity of the assay. At least three separate determinations were conducted for each test compound. A tannin test was only conducted on those plant extracts that exhibited over 50 percent ACE inhibition in the initial analysis. The data was subjected to GraphPad Instat (GraphPad Software Inc, San Diego, CA, USA). All values were expressed as mean ± SEM. A probability where p<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Eight of Sixteen Plants Showed ACEI

Eight of the 16 plants demonstrated ACE inhibition activity. The plants were then subjected to a gelatin salt block test for tannins to eliminate any false positive results. None of the plants tested positive for tannins, hence eliminating any false positive results.

Ultimately, the eight plants that showed significant ACEI activity in both extract forms were: Amaranthus dubius, Amaranthus hybridus, Asystasia gangetica, Galinsoga parviflora, Justicia flava, Oxygonum sinuatum, Physalis viscosa, and Tulbaghia violacea.

The Stand Out “Wild Garlic” (Tulbaghia violacea) Plant

Only one plant — Tulbaghia violacea — showed more than 50 percent inhibition in both extract preparations. These findings are in keeping with those of another group (1999). Further testing has revealed that the plant has promising hypotensive affects. The plant is commonly associated with onions and garlic and highly concentrated in Southern Africa. It is best known as “wild garlic.”

Researchers have recorded (1962) that the plant was pounded into formulations and used by native South Africans to relieve stomach ailments, rheumatism and high fevers. Other researchers found (1966) that native South Africans rubbed the leaves of the plant on the head for sinus headaches and used plant infusions for colic and restlessness in young children. The most direct discovery is the 1993 finding that large doses of popular garlic preparations significantly decreased the diastolic blood pressure in human patients 5-14 hours after the dose with no significant side effects. In addition, wild and cultivated garlic preparations were shown to decrease systolic blood pressure in rats.

Conclusions

In this study Tulbaghia violacea has shown properties related to lowering blood pressure. Since the number of hypertensive individuals around the world is on the rise, it is worthwhile to pursue further studies involving this extract. Yesterday’s folk remedies may one day be just what the 21st century doctor orders.

Colicky Babies And Postpartum Depression

A compelling connection exists between colicky babies and postpartum depression, according to a study conducted by a Brown Medical School professor and Rhode Island Department of Health family health experts.

The study is the first to establish a link between colic and depression using a large sample of demographically diverse women. Results will be presented in May at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ 2006 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The meeting is the largest academic pediatric gathering in the world.

Pamela High, M.D., served as lead. High is a clinical professor of pediatrics at Brown Medical School and director of developmental-behavioral pediatrics at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. She is also head of the Infant Behavior, Cry and Sleep Program run by the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, which is supported by Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

The research team also included staff from the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Division of Family Health, who provided data and analytical support. They are Hannah Kim, senior epidemiologist; Samara Viner-Brown, chief of data and evaluation and director of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS; and Rachel Cain, PRAMS coordinator.

High warned that the work does not show a direct cause-and-effect relationship between a fussy baby and a depressed mom. “We can’t say that inconsolability causes depression or that depression causes inconsolability,” High said. “However, we did find a link between the two. And this won’t surprise anyone who knows a mother coping with a fussy baby.”

High directs the Infant Behavior, Cry and Sleep Program - known locally as the Colic Clinic - in Providence. High and other Colic Clinic staff have helped hundreds of families having trouble with their infants’ crying. After conducting an exam and taking a medical history, clinic staffers help new mothers and fathers console their babies, pinpoint the cause of the crying, and take care of their own needs.

A 2005 Brown Medical School study of 93 mothers seen at the Colic Clinic showed that 45 percent reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Barry Lester, head of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, led the study.

“At the clinic, it is not unusual to see mothers who are very tired and sometimes very anxious and depressed,” High said. “Moms are trying hard to understand their child’s needs and meet those needs. Sometimes they feel inadequate when they can’t console their baby.”

The study is based on responses to the Rhode Island PRAMS, an ongoing, confidential survey of women who have recently given birth. The state is one of 32 participating in PRAMS, which is funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and aims to improve the health of new mothers and their babies. Each month, women are randomly chosen to receive the survey, which covers topics such as prenatal care, smoking, and nutrition and breast-feeding.

High is a member of the Rhode Island PRAMS steering committee. The committee was able to choose a few state-specific questions that would be added to the standard survey. The survey already asked about depression. Wondering if there was a connection to colic, High suggested another: “How inconsolable is your baby?”

The new question appeared on Rhode Island’s first PRAMS survey, administered in 2002, and again in 2003. A total of 4,214 new mothers got the questionnaire and 2,927 responded. The majority of mothers were white, married, had household incomes of more than $40,000 per year and had health insurance. Most of their babies were between two and four months of age.

The results: 19 percent of mothers reported moderate to severe symptoms of postpartum depression, and 8 percent reported that their babies were difficult to console. Responses showed a strong connection between the two. Mothers reporting depression were more than twice as likely to report infant inconsolability, and women with inconsolable babies were more than two times as likely to report depression. Even when other variables were controlled - such as age, race and income - the two were closely related.

“Depression and inconsolability are strong predictors of one another,” High said. “One in three women with fussy infants acknowledged that they were depressed.”

Researchers say the study sends a clear message to pediatricians: If you are treating a colicky baby, check on the moms, too. Ask them how they are feeling and if they have support from family and friends. When appropriate, refer women to mental health providers.

“This study is a terrific example of the use of survey data to further our understanding of maternal and child health issues and develop recommendations for improving public health practices,” Viner-Brown said. “It also shows the benefits of partnerships between state governments, universities and hospitals.”

Medicinal Herbs are a Popular Choice in WIC Clinics

Nearly half of the low income, nutritionally-vulnerable Latino children surveyed by Penn State researchers in WIC clinics were treated with herbs by their caregivers for common ills such as diaper rash, colic, teething symptoms, stomachaches, coughs and colds.

Although herb use was higher among the Latinos (48.4 percent), over one-third (31.4 percent) of the non-Latino WIC clients surveyed also used medicinal herbs for childhood illness. The herbs most commonly used were those with relatively low risk for adverse effects, including aloe vera, chamomile, garlic, peppermint, lavender, cranberry, ginger, Echinacea and lemon.

The study is the first to report on herbal use by participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). WIC helps low-income women, infants and children up to age five by providing vouchers to purchase food, education about healthful eating and referrals to health-care providers.

Dr. Barbara Lohse, associate professor of nutritional sciences who led the study, says, “Nutrition professionals and WIC educators have hesitated to talk about herbs for children because they feared that it would encourage acceptance and, perhaps, cause people to start using them. Our study has shown that more WIC clients than we thought are already using them, mostly in moderate and appropriate ways. However, because some herbal use has the potential to do harm, we urge herbal education in WIC clinics.”

The study is detailed in the current (February) issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in a paper, “Survey of Herbal Use by Kansas and Wisconsin WIC Participants Reveals Moderate, Appropriate Use and Identifies Herbal Education Needs.”

Lohse began the study when she was an associate professor of food and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and continued it when she joined the faculty at Kansas State University. Her co-authors are Jodi L. Stotts, Penn State research assistant and former instructor at Kansas State, and Jennifer R. Priebe, a clinical dietitian with San Luis Medical and Rehabilitation, Green Bay, Wis. At the time of the study, Priebe was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wis.

The researchers surveyed 2,562 caregivers with children living in Kansas and Wisconsin who were attending a WIC clinic. Child herbal use was reported for 1,363 of the children ranging in age from 1 week to 17 years. The majority of the children treated with herbs were younger than age 5.

The caregivers who participated in the survey consulted a variety of sources about the use of herbs to treat their children including family and friends, the news media, the Internet, medical doctors and other allied health professionals. However, family was, by far, the most popular source of information and was the only source for 46.9 percent of non-Latinos and 73.2 percent of Latinos.

The reasons cited by the caregivers for use of specific herbs varied. For example, aloe vera was used for burns, cuts, and rashes as well as gastrointestinal problems, asthma, colds, ear infections, fatigue and urinary symptoms.

Although most of the herbs that the participants reported giving to children were those with relatively low risk, the effects of long term use and interactions with prescription and over-the-counter medications are unknown. In addition, ten herbs with known safety issues, including St John’s wort, kava and red clover, were also given to children and taken by the caregivers themselves.

The researchers write, “Although it may be tempting to say that, ‘because little data exist on the safety of herbals during pregnancy, when breastfeeding, and in children, use of these products should be discouraged,’ the reality is that herbals are widely used in these populations. Likewise, recent findings such as the inefficacy and adverse reactions from Echinacea use illustrate the need to provide an educational venue and to conduct educational research to formalize herbal education within the WIC clinic culture.”

Spinal Manipulation Not Effective for Colic

Here’s an interesting article I ran across last year and saved because spinal manipulation is often claimed as a treatment for colic. Science has proven this to be absolutely false.

New Research Finds Spinal Manipulation Doesn’t Work For Any Condition

A study to be published in next month’s issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has raised serious questions about the efficacy of spinal manipulation treatment.

Spinal manipulation is commonly practiced by chiropractors and osteopaths. It is a popular form of manual treatment for back and neck pain with an estimated 16,000 licensed chiropractors in the UK.

“There is little evidence that spinal manipulation is effective in the treatment of any medical condition,” said Professor Edzard Ernst of the Peninsula Medical School at Exeter.

“The findings are of concern because chiropractors and osteopaths are regulated by statute in the UK.

“Patients and the public at large perceive regulation as proof of the usefulness of treatment. Yet the findings presented here show a gap and contradiction between the effectiveness of intervention and the evidence.”

Professor Ernst’s paper examined all systematic reviews published on spinal manipulation between 2000 and May 2005. Sixteen papers were included in the research relating to the following condition: back pain, neck pain, primary and secondary dysmenorrhoea, infantile colic, asthma, allergy and cervicogenic dizziness.

“Collectively these data did not demonstrate that spinal manipulation is an effective intervention for any of these conditions, except for back pain where it is superior to sham manipulation but not better than conventional treatments,” write the authors.

“Considering the possibility of adverse effects, this review does not suggest that spinal manipulation is a recommendable treatment.”

The study also highlights the risk of spinal manipulation treatment.

“Spinal manipulation [SM] has been associated with frequent, mild adverse effects and with serious, probably rare implications,” write the authors.

“Therefore the risk-benefit balance does not favour SM over other treatment options such as therapeutic exercise. This statement is not in agreement with several national guidelines�but we suggest that these guidelines be reconsidered in the light of the best available data,” they conclude.

Professor Ernst said the findings confirm fears that in ‘alternative’ medicine regulation often serves as a substitute for research.

“Previous studies have shown that regulation of chiropractors was followed by a decrease in research activity,” said Professor Ernst.

“The evidence presented here should be seen as a wake-up call to the chiropractic profession.

“One way forward is more rigorous clinical trials to test the efficacy of spinal manipulation, after all, the treatment is not without risk and chiropractors must demonstrate why it should be a recommendable medical treatment option,” Professor Ernst said.

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For more information about spinal manipulation and why you should not see a chiropractor for any condition — whether it is colic, back pain, neck pain or any other medical condition — be sure to read this excellent article by a former chiropractic patient entitled, Don’t I Need a Chiropractor?

Should You Comfort Crying Babies?

Here’s an excellent article that someone sent me the other day.

Comforting Crying Babies Better Than Leaving Them To Cry

by Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

Researchers say that responding and comforting crying babies is better than leaving them to cry during the first weeks of their lives. The scientists found that babies who were comforted when they cried tended to end up crying less than those who were left to settle down on their own.

At five weeks of age the babies who had been left to settle down on their own from a bawling session were crying 50% more than those who were comforted each time they started to cry. The difference was still the same when they were 12 weeks old.

In this study, parents kept a diary of their babies’ behaviour and how they responded. The parents were from the UK, Denmark and the USA. They were divided into three groups. One group would leave baby to settle down on his/her own when bawling. The second group were with their babies for 10 hours a day. The third group were with their baby for 16 hours a day and respond instantly to baby’s cry.

The researchers said it was comforting on demand that eventually reduced the amount a baby is likely to cry a few weeks later, rather than the quality of comfort provided - a case of quantity rather than quality.

For centuries new parents have been given advice by relatives and friends on what to do when a baby cries. Some say you should let the bawling baby cry it out, others will tell you to cuddle him/her on demand. This study indicates that the hands-off approach, used by many parents, has the tendency to backfire.

Several baby experts over the years have advocated the ‘controlled crying’ approach. They say rushing to baby’s side every time he/she cries just encourages him/her to cry more as a means to gain attention. The results of this study fly in the face of the ‘controlled crying’ technique. However, the ‘controlled crying’ technique may still be viable for older babies as the study just looked at the first five to twelve weeks of life.

The researchers stressed that a baby with colic will cry and cry, no matter what you do or don’t do.

Surely, attention seeking is only natural - we are, after all, social animals.

You can read about this study in the journal Pediatrics.

St. John’s Wort In Pregnancy And Lactation

St. John’s wort (hypericum perforatum) is one of the five best-selling herbs in the United States. It is used by many to treat the symptoms of depression, and many prefer it to prescription medications such as Paxil® and Zoloft. However, the herb has been the subject of growing concern about its interaction with birth control pills, the blood thinner warfarin, and cyclosporin, a medication used with those who have received organ transplants. A new study examining its effect on pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding contributes to the evidence that the product should be used with caution.

A New Study

The new study, entitled “St. John’s Wort (hypericum perforatum): Is It Safe During Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and With Prescription Medications? A Systematic Review,” will soon be published in the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. It is one in a series that systematically reviews the evidence relating to the safety of herbs commonly used during pregnancy and lactation.

The study was conducted by a team of Canadian researchers consisting of the principal investigator Jean Jacques Dugoua, ND, MSc (Cand.), University of Toronto, Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Truestar Health and Wellness Clinic, and the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto, CN; and co-investigators Edward Mills, DPH, MSc., PhD (Cand.), Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Ontario, CN; Dan Perri, MD, BscPharm, FRCP(C), Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, CN; and Gideon Koren, MD, The Motherisk Program, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, CN.

Dr. Dugoua is presenting the team’s findings at the 21st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (http://www.Naturopathic.org), being held August 9-12, 2006 at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR.

Methodology

The aim of the study was to systematically review the literature for evidence on the use, safety, and pharmacology of St. John’s wort focusing on issues pertaining to pregnancy and lactation. The investigators searched seven databases for reports relating to the herb. The databases included AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Cochrane Library, MedLine, Natural Database, and Natural Standard. Each database was examined in duplicate for data from its inception. Unpublished research and bibliographies were also included. Data were compiled according to the grade of evidence found.

Results

The researchers found varying levels of scientific evidence on the efficacy of use for different conditions; low-level evidence of harm during pregnancy; and strong evidence of side effects during lactation. As St. John’s wort interacts with a number of medications due to its effect on cytochrome P450 enzymes, this may account for some of the findings.

Conclusions

The researchers concluded:

– Caution is warranted when using St. John’s wort during pregnancy and lactation.

– St. John’s wort may interact with medications prescribed during pregnancy.

– During pregnancy, a case study and some animal studies reported lower birth weights with use of St. John’s wort.

– Strong scientific evidence showed that St. John’s wort consumption during lactation did not affect maternal milk production nor affect infant weight, but may cause colic, drowsiness or lethargy.

– St. John’s wort showed strong scientific evidence of being an effective aid in combating mild to moderate depression and low-level evidence for other conditions.

Recommendations

The authors urge women not to assume that because herbs are labeled “natural” that they are safe. They recommend all pregnant and lactating women consult a licensed, health care professional before consuming any herb or medicine in general, and St. John’s wort in particular. Finally, they recommend that any woman experiencing depression let their physician know immediately.

Babies’ cries linked to their neurological and medical status

Leading researchers in colic and infant development say that a simple analysis of babies’ cries can provide a window into their neurological and medical status.

In a research review in the current issue of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Linda LaGasse, PhD, and Barry Lester, PhD, with the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC) and Brown Medical School looked at previous studies that analyzed the acoustics of a baby’s cry. The authors cite the characteristics of a cry that can indicate problems in a baby’s nervous system, as well as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In addition, they cite the importance of how parents react to their squalling offspring.

“The cry signal has enormous potential diagnostic value; for example, very high pitched cries can tell us that something may be wrong with the infant, so the cry signal can be an early warning that leads to further neurological testing,” says LaGasse.

Overall, studies have repeatedly shown that infants at medical risk (like premature babies), and infants who have been exposed to lead or drugs, cry at a higher and more variable frequency than normal, but at lower amplitude, and with short utterances. These types of cry signals point toward a capacity problem in the respiratory system as well as an increased tension and instability of neural control of the vocal tract.

“Given the results of earlier studies relating cry characteristics to known neurological compromise, these findings suggest that at-risk infants have undetected neurological damage and that cry analysis may be able to identify these infants when no other symptoms are present,” says Lester.

In looking at cry analyses on sudden infant death syndrome, researchers found that high resonance and changes in the cry mode were consistent markers associated with SIDS. Resonance is the characteristic of a sound’s richness and depth that help humans distinguish a C note on a piano versus a guitar, and mode changes are noisy, broken-sounding cries that indicate poor neural control of the vocal track.

While someone might be able to point out a noisy cry, there is little evidence that a high resonance is distinguishable from a low resonance by an untrained listener.

“Instead, resonance is identified by a computerized analysis of the cry signal in the studies cited in the paper — this is why a detailed analysis of the cry signal is an important part of understanding the ‘full message’ of the cry,” says LaGasse.

The authors also note that parents tend to understand the nature of their babies’ cries well, and stress the importance of parental reaction to cries.

“Parents can usually tell the difference between pain and non-pain cries which guides the urgency of their care taking, and helps parents deal with infants with colic,” says LaGasse.

But parent perception of their infant’s cry may be affected by conditions such as depression or age of parent which can lead to action or nonaction which may be out of sync with the infant’s needs. The most extreme case is “shaken baby syndrome” where the cry triggers aggression rather than concern in the caretaker.

Lester and LaGasse say that clinicians should be aware of how parents respond (or don’t respond) to their baby’s crying, especially in light of the high prevalence of depression in young mothers.

“Helping parents to correctly interpret their infants’ cries can optimize development particularly in high risk infants who may have atypical signals or high risk parents who may misperceive a normal cry,” they write.

Heat Halts Pain Inside The Body

The old wives’ tale that heat relieves abdominal pain, such as colic or menstrual pain, has been scientifically proven by a UCL (University College London) scientist, who presented the findings at the Physiological Society’s annual conference hosted by UCL.

Dr Brian King, of the UCL Department of Physiology, led the research that found the molecular basis for the long-standing theory that heat, such as that from a hot-water bottle applied to the skin, provides relief from internal pains, such as stomach aches, for up to an hour.

Dr King said: “The pain of colic, cystitis and period pain is caused by a temporary reduction in blood flow to or over-distension of hollow organs such as the bowel or uterus, causing local tissue damage and activating pain receptors.

“The heat doesn’t just provide comfort and have a placebo effect - it actually deactivates the pain at a molecular level in much the same way as pharmaceutical painkillers work. We have discovered how this molecular process works.”

If heat over 40 degrees Celsius is applied to the skin near to where internal pain is felt, it switches on heat receptors located at the site of injury. These heat receptors in turn block the effect of chemical messengers that cause pain to be detected by the body.

The team found that the heat receptor, known as TRPV1, can block P2X3 pain receptors. These pain receptors are activated by ATP, the body’s source of energy, when it is released from damaged and dying cells. By blocking the pain receptors, TRPV1 is able to stop the pain being sensed by the body.

Dr King added: “The problem with heat is that it can only provide temporary relief. The focus of future research will continue to be the discovery and development of pain relief drugs that will block P2X3 pain receptors. Our research adds to a body of work showing that P2X3 receptors are key to the development of drugs that will alleviate debilitating internal pain.”

Scientists made this discovery using recombinant DNA technology to make both heat and pain receptor proteins in the same host cell and watching the molecular interactions between the TRPV1 protein and the P2X3 protein, switched on by capsaicin, the active ingredient in chilli, and ATP, respectively.