Health News - Monday, January 22, 2007
Cells passed from a mother to child during pregnancy can grow into functioning pancreatic cells that produce insulin in the child, U.S. scientists report. The scientists also found that children and young adults with type 1 diabetes had higher levels of maternal DNA in their blood than siblings or unrelated people without diabetes. This suggests an attempt to repair damaged tissue.
The findings suggest that it may be possible to harvest a mother's stem cells in order to treat her diabetic child. Type 1 diabetes is an inherited form of the disease where individuals do not have enough functioning pancreatic islet cells needed to produce insulin. Continue reading
Aggressive treatment and lower thresholds for diagnosis have put high blood pressure under better control in the United States than parts of Western Europe, according to a study published on Monday.
The report from Temple University Hospital and University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia was based on information from more than 21,000 patients in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in 2004. Continue reading
The anti-seizure drug zonisamide, which goes by the brand name Zonegran, is effective short-term treatment for binge-eating disorder associated with obesity, according to the results of a small study. However, the treatment is not well tolerated.
"Binge eating disorder is associated with obesity," Dr. Susan L. McElroy, of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio, and colleagues write in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. "Zonisamide is a novel antiepileptic drug associated with weight loss." To investigate the usefulness of this drug for binge-eating, the researchers conducted a 16-week trial in which 60 patients with binge-eating disorder were randomly assigned zonisamide or placebo. Continue reading
French fries dropped in popularity while carrots and fresh vegetables won ever large grounds among U.S. students in kindergarten through 12th grade in cafeteria from 1998 to 2006, media reported on Monday. The result is from the School Nutrition Association's annual survey given to food service directors around the country.
"If you present these healthy offerings to children, they may turn them down the first time, but you can't give up," said Martha Conklin, an associate professor at Penn State University who conducts research about school nutrition programs and school food service. "Children will adapt. Choice is important, but they can make those selections from healthy offerings," she said, adding "As choices on the lunch line change, many children are accepting them." Continue reading
There is no clear connection between mobile phone use and malignant brain tumours, a study from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland said on Monday. The study on the possible connection between mobile phone use and the risk of a malignant brain tumour, glioma, was carried out in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England.
The study showed that mobile phone users were not at an increased risk of developing a glioma. Regular use of a mobile phone, duration of use, or the cumulative number of calls had no effect on the risk. The only indication of a potential effect was found among mobile phone users who had used a mobile phone for at least 10 years. They were found to have a slightly increased risk of a tumour on the side of the head on which they held the phone. Continue reading