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Spanking Raises Chances of Risky, Deviant Sexual Behavior

(HealthDay News) -- Researchers have uncovered another damaging consequence of spanking: risky sexual behaviors, or even sexual deviancy, when the child grows up.

"This adds one more harmful side effect to spanking," said Murray Straus, a spanking expert who was expected to present the findings of four studies at the American Psychological Association's Summit on Violence and Abuse in Relationships in Bethesda, Md., on Thursday.

"I think that it's pretty powerful," said Elizabeth Gershoff, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan's School of Social Work. "It's across several studies and across different forms of either risky or deviant sexual behavior."

Straus, who was the author of all four studies, hopes the findings will raise awareness among child development experts.

"My hope is to convince my colleagues that they ought to put this in their textbooks," said Straus, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham. "It's amazing. Something experienced by all American kids gets an average of half a page in child development textbooks, and not a single one comes to the conclusion that parents should never spank."

Even the revered Dr. Spock, who was anti-spanking, never came right out and advised parents outright not to do it, he added. Instead, Spock advised "avoiding it if you can."

A meta-analysis of spanking studies conducted by Gershoff found 93 percent agreement among studies that spanking can lead to such problems as delinquent and anti-social behavior in childhood along with aggression, criminal and anti-social behavior and spousal or child abuse as an adult.

"There's probably nothing else in child development that has 93 percent agreement in results," Straus said.

Five percent of people who have never been spanked hit their partners, versus 25 percent of those who were spanked frequently.

However, some 90 percent of U.S. parents spank toddlers, according to Straus.

The review being presented at the meeting are the first to look at the relationship of spanking to sexual behavior.

They found that spanking and other corporal punishment is associated with an increased probability of verbally and physically coercing a dating partner to have sex; risky sex such as premarital sex without using a condom; and masochistic sex such as spanking during sex.

There is a "dose response" at work here. "The more parents spank, the higher the probability of harmful side effects," Straus noted.

Of course, there's a similar dose response for smokers. But if someone reaches the age of 65 without developing lung cancer, it doesn't mean that smoking isn't harmful. It means the person was one of the lucky ones.

It's the same with spanking, Straus said. "If a person says, 'I was spanked, and I don't have any interest in bondage and discipline sex, that's correct, but it's not because spanking is OK, it's because they're one of the lucky ones."

And spanking a child once may be like picking up that first cigarette. "The trouble is, if you have a 2-year-old, you pretty soon decide you can't avoid it. The recidivism rate for whatever 'crime' you correct a 2-year-old for is about 50 percent in two hours."

"I've been researching corporal punishment for 30 years and, in the course of that time, the evidence has accumulated that it doesn't work any better than non-corporal punishment but has harmful side effects. I have come to the conclusion that parents should never, ever spank because, although it does work, it's no better than non-hitting methods that don't have harmful side effects. If there was an FDA for spanking, they'd say use an alternative that doesn't have harmful side effects."

More information
Visit the Center for Effective Discipline for other ways to discipline your child.

Kids Who Skimp on Sleep Tend to Be Fatter

(HealthDay News) -- While the connection between a child's weight and the amount of sleep that child gets may not be immediately apparent, new research has found a strong correlation between the two.

Sixth-graders who averaged less than 8.5 hours of sleep a night had a 23 percent rate of obesity, while their well-rested peers who averaged more than 9.25 hours of sleep had an obesity rate of just 12 percent, according to a new study.

"We found that children who got less sleep were more likely to be obese," said the study's lead author, Dr. Julie Lumeng, an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development.

Lumeng said that even after compensating for other factors, such as the home environment, the link between less sleep and heavier weight was still apparent.

The study results are published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Lumeng said there are three likely reasons why sleep might affect weight. First, if children don't get enough sleep at night, they'll be less likely to run around and get exercise during the day.

Second, when kids are tired, they're more irritable and may reach for junk food to help regulate their mood. And, finally, what Lumeng called a "hot area for future research" is the possible connection between sleep and fat metabolism. She said there have been studies done with adults that have shown that a lack of sleep may disrupt the secretion of hormones involved in appetite and metabolism, such as leptin and insulin.

The new study included 785 children who were in third grade at the start of the trial. Most were white -- 81 percent -- and half were female.

Parents were interviewed about their children's sleep habits when the youngsters were in third grade and then again when they were in sixth grade. The researchers also measured height and weight. Obesity was defined as having a body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) higher than the 95th percentile for age and gender, according to Lumeng. Eighteen percent of the children were obese in sixth grade.

The researchers also took into account maternal education, race, the quality of the home environment and parenting skills to see if those factors affected a child's weight.

No matter what a child weighed in third grade, too little sleep correlated with being obese in sixth grade. And, short sleep duration in sixth grade also correlated with excess weight in sixth grade, according to the study.

Third-graders who got less than nine hours and 45 minutes of sleep a night had an obesity prevalence of about 20 percent, while those who got more than nine hours and 45 minutes of sleep had obesity rates of about 12 percent, Lumeng said.

Those who were short-changing sleep in third grade had 40 percent higher odds of being obese in sixth grade, and sixth-graders who weren't getting enough sleep were 20 percent more likely to be obese, compared to their well-rested counterparts.

Lumeng said the researchers weren't able to find a statistical association between quality of sleep and obesity. But, she said that without a lab-based sleep study, it's difficult to objectively assess the quality of sleep, so there may be an association that this study wasn't able to uncover.
Dr. Stephen Sheldon, director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said he would've liked to see sleep studies so the researchers could have known more about the quality of sleep these children were getting, such as how much REM sleep did they get and how fragmented was the sleep?

But, he said, the bottom line is that "pediatricians and parents really need to start paying closer attention to sleep-wake habits. In this society, we put a premium on being awake, and that premium may hurt us in the long run. Sleep may be as important as food to our health and well-being," said Sheldon, who's also a professor of pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Both Lumeng and Sheldon recommended trying to keep a consistent sleep schedule. Bedtimes and wake times are both important -- for children and adults. Sheldon said it's usually OK to vary your sleep times a little bit on the weekend, about an hour or so, but, he cautioned, "Letting you child sleep till noon or mid-afternoon is inviting trouble."

Lumeng also recommended that children not have a TV in their bedroom, because it can make it more difficult to fall asleep.

More information
To read more about the connection between overweight and sleep, visit the National Sleep Foundation.

Chronic Illness Often a Taboo Subject: Survey

(HealthDay News) -- Along with taboo topics such as politics and religion, many Americans are reluctant to discuss managing a chronic illness with family or friends, according to a new survey of more than 1,000 adults.

The survey, released Oct. 11, found that 82 percent of respondents said they knew someone with a chronic illness, but only 34 percent were likely to suggest ways for this person to better manage their care. That's about the same number who said they'd debate politics (37 percent) or religion (33 percent) with a loved one or friend.

Respondents were more likely to discourage friends or loved ones from buying the wrong house (65 percent), loan them a large amount of money (56 percent), advise them against taking a job they didn't think was right for the person (48 percent), and tell them their spouse was unfaithful (41 percent).

The survey was released by Evercare, a provider of health plans for people who have chronic illnesses, are older, or have disabilities.

The reasons why many Americans are reluctant to offer advice to chronically-ill friends or family include: They think the person has the situation under control (66 percent); they are not a health care professional (31 percent); they don't want to seem like a nag (31 percent) or rude (29 percent); they don't believe the person would listen to them (27 percent); or they didn't think the matter was that important (15 percent).

Other findings:

• Twenty percent of respondents said their spouse was the easiest person to give advice to about health, followed by a child (20 percent), mother (13 percent), and father (5 percent).
• Most respondents said they'd prefer to receive advice about managing a chronic illness from a health care professional (67 percent), followed by a spouse (10 percent) or parent (7 percent). Men were twice as likely as women (14 percent versus 7 percent) to have their spouse give them such advice.
• Men have an easier time offering health advice to their spouse (28 percent) than women (19 percent). Women have an easier time offering health advice to their children (24 percent) than men (16 percent).
• Thirty-four percent of respondents said the person closest to them with a chronic illness is a parent (34 percent), followed by another relative (16 percent), spouse (14 percent), friend (11 percent), sibling (8 percent), and child (6 percent).

Evercare offered tips on how to help family or friends with a chronic illness:

• Talk to them in order to get an understanding of their goals. Get the conversation started by discussing events or activities they used to enjoy or future events they want to be part of, such as a family reunion. Once you understand their goals, you can help them achieve them along with health care providers, doctors or community service agencies.
• Appoint an "ambassador" -- someone your friend or loved one feels comfortable talking with and respects enough to heed his or her advice. This person can help your friend or family member manage their condition.
• Increase your comfort levels by educating yourself about the person's chronic illness. This will make you feel more comfortable speaking with them about the condition and reinforcing the advice the patient has received from their doctors.

By 2020, about 157 million Americans will be afflicted by chronic illnesses, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

More information
The American Psychological Association has more about coping with chronic illness.

Health Tip: Dyslexia in Adults

(HealthDay News) - Dyslexia is a common learning disability in which a person may have difficulty reading, spelling and interpreting words. It's often diagnosed during childhood, when a child is learning to read and write.

However, dyslexia can continue to make reading and writing difficult in adults who did not receive help in childhood.

The International Dyslexia Association lists these common symptoms of dyslexia in adults:

• Avoiding or hiding problems with reading and writing.
• Poor spelling.
• Problems with time management and organizational skills.
• Often relying on memory and speaking skills rather than reading and writing.
• Holding a job well below one's intellectual ability.

Children: Better Understanding of Radiation Risks

Simply giving parents informational handouts can improve their understanding of the potential increased risk of cancer related to paediatric computed tomography(CT), according to a recent study.29/08/2007
“Like many radiology departments around the country, we are concerned about the increasing radiation exposure to children caused by increased usage of CT. When we looked into it, our emergency physicians told us that parents' expectations may play a role,” said David B. Larson, MD, lead author of the study, from The Children’s Hospital in Denver. “The emergency room clinicians tell us anecdotally that a number of parents expect that their child will undergo CT even before the child is seen by a physician. Parents rarely seem to understand the associated risks, so we thought it might be helpful to our emergency room colleagues to provide a handout to parents to explain, in basic terms, the risks associated with CT,” said Larson.

The study consisted of 100 parents of children undergoing non-emergent CT studies who were surveyed before and after reading an informational handout that described radiation risks. Of the 100 parents surveyed, 66 percent believed that CT uses radiation; 99 percent afterwards.

13 percent of those surveyed before reading the handout believed CT increases the lifetime risk of cancer, versus 86 percent surveyed afterward. According to the study, after reading the handout, parents became less willing to have their child undergo a CT examination if their doctor believed that either CT or observation would be equally effective. Their willingness to have their child undergo CT recommended by their doctor did not significantly change.

No parent refused or requested to defer CT after reading the handout. “While most parents knew that CT uses radiation, we were surprised to find that most parents did not realize that this radiation exposure is associated with an increased risk of cancer,” said Larson. MEDICA.de; Source: American Roentgen Ray Society

Obesity-Linked Woes Boost Kids' Lifetime Heart Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Obese children diagnosed with health problems collectively known as the "metabolic syndrome" are at higher risk for developing heart disease as adults, new research reveals.

Compared to healthier youngsters, school-age children with the condition face a 14.5 times greater risk of cardiovascular disease when they reached their 30s and 40s, the study found.
Components of the syndrome include high blood pressure, high body mass, high blood pressure and high triglycerides (blood fats).

"I wasn't exactly shocked, but this is the first time we have shown that children who have this constellation of factors known as metabolic syndrome are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in their adult years," said study lead author John A. Morrison, a research professor of pediatrics who also works in the division of cardiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

The findings are published in the August issue of Pediatrics.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 50 million Americans have the metabolic syndrome. The condition is typically diagnosed on the basis of having at least three of the following characteristics: abdominal obesity; high blood pressure; insulin resistance (in which the body can't process insulin or blood sugar properly); a high risk for arterial plaque build-up due to high levels of triglycerides, low HDL ("good") cholesterol and high LDL ("bad") cholesterol; and a high risk for clotting and inflammation as indicated by the elevated presence of certain blood proteins.

Researchers long ago established that, for adults, having the metabolic syndrome increases their risk for both heart disease and diabetes. Physicians now recommend that patients combating the condition embark on a weight-loss program geared toward developing healthier eating habits and increased physical activity.

To explore a possible link between pediatric metabolic syndrome and adult heart disease, Morrison and his team cross-referenced data for contributing syndrome characteristics collected from a pool of 771 children between 1973 and 1978, and then again between 2000 and 2004.

The participants were drawn from the Cincinnati region and were between the ages of 6 and 19 in the first study and 30 and 48 in the follow-up study. A little less than three-quarters of the pool were white and a little more than a quarter were black.

Patient blood samples were taken the time of study enrollment and then 25 years later. The researchers gauged blood pressure; body mass index (BMI); and cholesterol. Blood triglyceride and glucose levels were also assessed.

The participants also reported any history of heart attack or stroke, or procedures such as coronary bypass or angioplasty.

Four percent of the participants -- 31 boys and girls -- had metabolic syndrome as children, while more than 25 percent had the condition 25 years later, the researchers reported.

Among those with pediatric metabolic syndrome, almost 70 percent still had the condition as adults, and almost 20 percent had gone on to develop cardiac disease in the intervening years.
In contrast, only 1.5 percent of the children who did not have the syndrome as kids went on to experience heart trouble as adults.

Furthermore, any rise or fall in BMI over the 25 years was linked to a concurrent rise or fall in risk for developing the metabolic syndrome. In that time frame, every BMI bump or drop of 10 points translated into a 24 percent risk increase or decrease for the syndrome, the team reported.

Morrison and his colleagues said their findings should help doctors and parents identify young patients who are at an increased risk for serious adult illness. They could also point the way toward ways to reduce that risk.

"So, there's some good news here," said Morrison. "Pediatric weight is not destiny. If you're obese as a child, you can do something to lose the pounds. And you must do something to lose the pounds, if you want to reduce risk."

Dr. Brenda Kohn, an associate professor of pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine, added that proactive parental and physician intervention is critical to help children avoid behaviors that keep the syndrome going.

"The treatment has to be started in childhood, in adolescence," she advised. "Eating patterns, activity patterns, all start in infancy. Good habits have to start early."

"So, it's very, very important that a child is raised in an environment where physical exercise is encouraged on a routine basis and eating patterns are geared to healthy eating decisions," added Kohn, who is also a medical advisory board member with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

"Children should be monitored at least once yearly by a physician in order to ensure that all these goals are being met," she said.

More information
For additional information on metabolic syndrome, visit the American Heart Association.

Nitroglycerin Could Help Prevent Preterm Births

(HealthDay News) -- Giving nitroglycerin to women in preterm labor helps prolong their pregnancy and improves the health of their babies, Canadian researchers report.

The boost in newborns' health was greatest in those who were born very prematurely (24 weeks to 28 weeks), the study said.

Premature delivery is the leading cause of death and disability of newborns worldwide. According to the researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, this is the first study to identify a drug that stops preterm labor and also improves infant outcomes. They said nitroglycerin causes fewer side effects than other drugs.

Published in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the five-year study included 153 women who were recruited at the time they went into preterm labor.

Caring for premature babies and their medical complications can be costly for families and societies. Based on their findings, the researchers said that "treatment with nitroglycerin may result in major cost savings and longer-term health benefits for these babies."

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

More information
The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has more about research into preterm labor and premature birth.

Health Tip: Warning Signs of Child Abuse

(HealthDay News) -- Many children who are being abused are afraid or unable to talk to someone about what's happening to them.

Nonetheless, there are warning signs of child abuse that a teacher, neighbor parent, caretaker, or friend can observe.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway offers this list of possible symptoms:

• Sudden behavior changes or changes in the quality of school work.
• Difficulty concentrating that cannot be attributed to other factors.
• Unattended medical needs that have been brought to a caretaker's attention.
• Acting withdrawn or generally disinterested.
• Feelings or facial expressions suggesting that something bad is always about to happen.
• Avoiding the home or abuser, and arriving early and staying late for activities.

Finding Adds Another Piece to Autism Puzzle

(HealthDay News) -- Contrary to common medical thought, young children with autism do not have accelerated brain growth even though their brains appear enlarged, new research claims.
The finding, published in the Aug. 22 issue of Neurology, confirms some earlier reports and conflicts with others.
Dr. Stephen Dager, of the University of Washington School of Medicine, and his colleagues compared 60 autistic children to 16 children with developmental delay and 10 children with typical development. They used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to measure the transverse relaxation (T2) of gray and white matter in the children's cortexes. This measures how much water is moving around inside brain tissue, and it gives clinicians an indirect way to measure brain maturation.
The researchers found the autistic children had differences in the gray matter of their brains compared to the children with typical development. A number of studies has suggested the brains of younger children with autism are 10 percent larger, Dager explained. This new research honed in on tissue chemistry and found the abnormality wasn't due to lack of "pruning," which is how the normal developing brain rids itself of unnecessary neurons.
The abnormality is "clearly not accelerated brain growth. An alternative hypothesis could be inflammatory processes. Our data would be consistent with adult studies that found higher levels of cytokines, associated with inflammation, in postmortem studies," he explained.
A popular current theory is that autistic children have more rapid brain growth that plateaus at the age of 5 or 6. "We didn't find evidence for that, just the opposite, in fact," Dager said. "The processes that go along with brain maturation were slower in the autistic brains, particularly in gray matter."
The finding is "tantalizing," said Andrew Shih, director of research and programs at the National Alliance for Autism Research. "This is one of the first attempts to differentiate beyond volumetric difference to really look at what's behind those differences."
The field, he explained, has been "intrigued by reports last year that suggest a model of autism could be premature development or unchecked brain growth leading to disorganized circuitry. The thinking was, synaptic pruning didn't occur, so that noise became predominant over signal itself."
But Dager's study suggests gray matter development in autism involves the same volume as normal brains, but fewer neurons. "The convergence of evidence now seems to suggest a model in which gray matter abnormality could be inflammatory. T2 measures water molecules, and the findings here suggest there's more water in these kids' brains...," Shih explained.
The differences in gray matter were found only in the brains of autistic children, while both gray and white matter differences were found in the brains of children with learning delays. For children with learning delays, the findings suggest slowed neuronal development is to blame, while autistic children have a different kind of neuronal development abnormality, possibly induced by inflammation. Gray matter consists of the brain's neurons, while white matter is the brain's wiring system.
Another important finding, that gray matter seems to be affected differently in autism, supports earlier research. "There's evidence of connectivity problems at older ages; in younger ages, it seems gray matter is problematic. Autism is a developmental problem and evolves as people age," he noted.
Autism affects up to one in every 175 school-age children, according to a recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The government researchers also found that boys are nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls, and Hispanic parents were slightly less likely than non-Hispanic whites to report a child with autism, although this may be due to cultural or other factors, including access to medical care.
In the end, the findings only add another piece to the jigsaw puzzle that is autism, Dager said, adding, "We're no closer to a treatment."
Other new research is also starting to unravel common beliefs about this disorder. In addition to social interaction problems, a study in the current issue of Child Neuropsychology found autism prevents different parts of the brain from working together. That makes complex tasks, such as tying shoelaces, much more difficult. The children studied were 8 to 15 years old.
More information
For more information on autism, go to National Institute of Mental Health.

Postpartum Depression Hits Dads, Too

MONDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Almost as many new fathers as mothers suffer depression after the birth of a child, a new study shows.

About 14 percent of mothers and 10 percent of fathers showed signs of moderate or severe postpartum depression, according to the study, which followed more than 5,000 members of two-parent families.

"There have been a few small studies in the last two years showing this, but nothing has been known on a national basis," said study leader James F. Paulson, an assistant professor of pediatrics and psychology and behavioral sciences at the Eastern Virginia Medical School Center for Pediatric Research.

The findings are published in the August issue of Pediatrics.

New parents who participated in the study filled out questionnaires and were interviewed to determine whether they showed symptoms of depression. Their relationships with their children were determined by questioning such practices as breast-feeding, putting the child to bed on his or her back, and whether the parents read to, played peek-a-boo with or sang to the child.

"What we found in this study is that basic day-to-day interactions were impaired in fathers, just as they were in mothers," Paulson said. "Also, basic activities were impaired."

Pediatricians should make a greater effort to identify postpartum depression in both mothers and fathers, Paulson said. "Pediatricians, in general, may be in the best position to catch depression, but they don't often do it," he said, adding he's now doing a study to look at patterns of screening for postpartum depression.

Dr. William Coleman is a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina and chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on the psychosocial aspects of child and family health. "Physicians do a very poor job asking about or detecting postpartum blues in the mother, and they may not even see the father," he said. "They might detect the mother's feelings, but may not even ask the father."

Fathers usually feel elation after a birth, Coleman said, but that feeling of "engrossment" can fade away, depending on family circumstances.

That can happen "if the mother is very, very controlling and wants the baby all to herself," Coleman said. "Also, fathers can experience frustration, sexual and emotional, if they forget to remember that the wife is not interested in sex at that time. If the wife is very motherly and maternal, he might feel kind of useless, on the periphery."

Depression in a father leads to a well-known pattern of behavior, Coleman said. "He tends to work longer, to watch sports more, to drink more and be solitary," he said.

One problem in detecting postpartum depression in fathers is that "pediatricians are not told to inquire about adult issues," Coleman said. "It is a silent game."

Yet, it's important to detect postpartum depression in a father for the sake of the child's long-term outlook, Paulson said. "Based on what we know of mothers' postpartum depression, it is associated with health problems later on, not only emotional problems and difficulties adjusting to school but also basic health problems," he said.

More information
For more on postpartum depression, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Gandhi's Cure for Alzheimers Disease

"Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions."-David BorensteinI had the chance to spend last weekend with my 88-year-old grandma and I feel so grateful that she is mentally sharp.

Unfortunately, so many elderly are not as lucky. The National Institute on Aging estimates that some 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimers. What can one do to effectively treat and even prevent Alzheimer's?

I remember a 2005 article that discussed amazing results with art therapy on Alzheimer's patients. A patient who had little memory or awareness, when exposed to paintings, suddenly would become lucid, articulate, and quite interpretive. Said the article, "One avenue of thinking about both music and art...is that it engages parts of the brain that remain intact long after the onset of dementia." Most of our lives, we strive for meaning, ration, and understanding which ultimately batters and weakens a certain part of the brain.

As Joseph Campbell said, "Life is not about the meaning, it's about the feeling." As we are learning from the Alzheimer patients, time spent immersed in creative freedom and FREE from rational knowledge is like a deep tissue massage for an exhausted brain. We can transcend the gradual withering of mind by taking time every single day, if not just for a moment, to set the mind free. A glass of wine, a long walk, your favorite song, a delicious meal. As Gandhi said, "Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart."Here are some tips to free the mind and massage the creative brain.

Go to a baseball game.
Even if you are not a sports fan, baseball is one of the only things in our culture that is not governed by a clock. There’s something very liberating about escaping time and just relaxing in the summer sun."A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." ~ Humphrey Bogar

Pick up some crayons and let loose.One should hope for their mind to be as free as a 5 year old child. Next time you are at a restaurant where they have crayons for kids to scribble on paper placemats, ask if they have any “adult crayons?”“When I grow up I want to be a little boy.” ~ Joseph Heller

Don’t be too cool for school.Do something ridiculous just for fun. Taper your jeans like you did in the 80’s. Wear giant, round, upside down sunglasses you steal from your grandma. Go dressed to a baseball game in full uniform with your mitt just like when you were a kid.“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." ~ Diane Ackerman

Posted by David Romanelli

Genetic Counseling

If you and your partner are newly pregnant, you may be amazed at the number and variety of prenatal tests available to you. Blood tests, urine tests, monthly medical exams, diet questionnaires, and family history forms crowd your schedule and your desk, but each of these tests helps to assess the health of you and your baby - and to predict any potential health risks.
Unlike your parents, you may also have the option of genetic testing. These tests identify the likelihood of passing certain genetic diseases or disorders (those caused by a defect in the genes - the tiny, DNA-containing units of heredity that determine the characteristics and functioning of the entire body) to your children.
Some of the more familiar genetic disorders are:
Down syndrome
cystic fibrosis
sickle cell anemia
Tay-Sachs disease (a fatal disease affecting the central nervous system)
If your history suggests that genetic testing would be helpful, you may be referred to a genetic counselor. Or, you might decide to seek out genetic counseling yourself.
But what do genetic counselors do, and how can they help your family-to-be?
What Is Genetic Counseling?
Genetic counseling is the process of:
evaluating family history and medical records
ordering genetic tests
evaluating the results of this investigation
helping parents understand and reach decisions about what to do next
Genetic tests are done by analyzing small samples of blood or body tissues. They determine whether you, your partner, or your baby carry genes for certain inherited disorders.
Genes are made up of DNA molecules, which are the simplest building blocks of heredity. They're grouped together in specific patterns within a person's chromosomes, forming the unique "blueprint" for every physical and biological characteristic of that person.
Humans have 46 chromosomes, arranged in pairs in every living cell of our bodies. When the egg and sperm join at conception, half of each chromosomal pair is inherited from each parent. This newly formed combination of chromosomes then copies itself again and again during fetal growth and development, passing identical genetic information to each new cell in the growing fetus. Current science suggests that human chromosomes carry from 25,000 to 35,000 genes. An error in just one gene (and in some instances, even the alteration of a single piece of DNA) can sometimes be the cause for a serious medical condition.
Some diseases, such as Huntington's disease (a degenerative nerve disease) and Marfan syndrome (a connective tissue disorder), can be inherited from just one parent. Most disorders cannot occur unless both the mother and father pass along the gene. Some of these are cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs disease. Other genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome, are not inherited. In general, they result from an error (mutation) in the cell division process during conception or fetal development. Still others, such as achondroplasia (the most common form of dwarfism), may either be inherited or the result of a genetic mutation.
Genetic tests don't yield easy-to-understand results. They can reveal the presence, absence, or malformation of genes or chromosomes. Deciphering what these complex tests mean is where a genetic counselor comes in.
Who Are Genetic Counselors?Genetic counselors are professionals who have completed a master's program in medical genetics and counseling skills. They then pass a certification exam administered by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. Genetic counselors can help identify and interpret the risks of an inherited disorder, explain inheritance patterns, suggest testing, and lay out possible scenarios. (They refer you to a doctor or a laboratory for the actual tests.) They will explain the meaning of the medical science involved, provide support, and address any emotional issues often raised by the results of the genetic testing.
Who Should See One?Most couples planning a pregnancy or who are expecting don't need genetic counseling. About 3% of babies are born with birth defects each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - and of the malformations that do occur, the most common are also among the most treatable. Cleft palate and clubfoot, two of the more common birth defects, can be surgically repaired, as can many heart malformations.
The best time to seek genetic counseling is before becoming pregnant, when a counselor can help assess your risk factors. But even after you become pregnant, a meeting with a genetic counselor can still be helpful. For example, several babies have been diagnosed with spina bifida before birth. Recent research suggests that delivering a baby with spina bifida via cesarean section (avoiding the trauma of travel through the birth canal) can minimize damage to the baby's spine - and perhaps reduce the likelihood that the child will need a wheelchair. more...

and at www.dreddyclinic.com

Music to treat ailments like asthma and diabetes - Health News - Webindia123.com

Music to treat ailments like asthma and diabetes - Health News - Webindia123.com

The serene and soothing effect of the classical music if played in a definite and researched pattern can cure not only diseases like asthma, spondylitis and diabetes but can also be helpful in removal of complications in the growth of child in mother's womb and normal child delivery.

Sugar May Lessen Pain in Some Children

Some experts believe sugar -- one of the most health-harming substances you can consume -- acts as an analgesic (pain reliever) in some children. A recent study seems to link the "relief" to the child's affinity for sweets and their body weight.

In the study, some 200 children ranging from ages 5-10 and their mothers were evaluated to determine their sucrose preferences. On the whole, children preferred higher levels of sweetness than adults. About half the youngsters (and one quarter of the adults) preferred a sweetness concentration of 14 teaspoons per 8-ounce glass.

After measuring their tolerance for pain using a cold pressor test (indicates how long subjects can keep their hands in 50 degree water), the children who preferred higher levels of sucrose experienced less pain. However, the overweight and at-risk to be overweight did not have the same tolerance increase.

Although the sugar and pain parallels are interesting, this should not be read as, "Give your child sugar when he or she hurts." There are countless ways sugar can be harmful to adult and children's health. In fact, you'll probably be surprised just how much sugar your kids are already consuming, particularly from sweet drinks. This leads to a plethora of problems including childhood obesity – a major cause of serious illness.
EurekAlert December 15, 2005


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CHYAWANPRASH

India’s first Child Specialist’ chyawanprash, Sivananda Bal Chyawanprabha has been launched. This special formulation has been designed to address the needs of growing children, keeping in mind the increasing pressures of today's lifestyles. Bal Chyawanprabha has a sweeter and child friendly taste that makes it more palatable than the other standard formulations of Chyawanprash


Bal Chyawanprabha not only provides immunity and addresses the physical needs of the body, but also helps in the child’s mental development. Herbs like Brahmibooti & Shankpushpi that are not present in the standard formulations, help in improving the concentration and mental development of children in their growing years. Apart from this, the formulations contain child specific herbs in optimal quantity, each of which address specific nutritional needs of children in their growing years.

Sivananda Chyawanprash range:
Sivananda has also launched two other variants to cater to the adults and older people in the family. While Amrit Chyawanprabha addresses the needs of older people, Sivananda Chyawanprash is the original formulation as per Ayurved Saar Sangrah, and is best suited for the adults in the family.

More informations here:
http://www.dreddyclinic.com/ayurvedic/ayurvedic.htm
http://www.dreddyclinic.com/education/education.htm

The kitchen clinic

Cold weather and pollution are a deadly combination for young asthmatics. Since Ayurveda classifies asthma as an acutely kaphic disorder brought on by excessive mucous and phlegm, the best prescription is honey.

Packed with subtle alcohols and ethereal oils, honey drains mucous from the respiratory passages and eliminates it from the lungs.

In fact, the ancient vaids actually believed that when an asthmatic child so much as inhales the air above a pot of honey, his breathing becomes easier. Hot garlic milk with a dash of turmeric, and ajwain tea are also traditional remedies for asthma. Avoid mucous forming foods like rice, wheat, yogurt, bananas, nuts and all dairy products, especially ice-cream and cheese.
[from News Mid-day]