Moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy do not harm baby's IQ

Moderate amounts do not cause behavioral problems, obesity

November 19, 2015

Science Daily/Nationwide Children's Hospital

Women drinking and eating moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy should be reassured that they are not harming their child's intelligence, according to a study from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The research, one of the first studies to focus on how in utero caffeine exposure affects a child's future intelligence (IQ) and behavior later in childhood, found caffeine did not lead to a reduced IQ or increased behavioral problems.

"We did not find evidence of an adverse association of maternal pregnancy caffeine consumption with child cognition or behavior at 4 or 7 years of age," said Mark A. Klebanoff, MD, principal investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's and faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Researchers analyzed a marker of caffeine in the blood of 2,197 expectant mothers who took part in the Collaborative Perinatal Project, conducted at multiple sites in the United States in 1959-74. According to the researchers, this was an era when coffee consumption during pregnancy was more prevalent than today, as there was little concern regarding the safety of caffeine. Therefore, the study was able to investigate a broader range of caffeine intake than if a similar study was done today.

Researchers looked at the association between a chemical called paraxanthine, caffeine's primary metabolite, at two points in pregnancy. They compared those levels to the child's IQ and behavior at 4 and 7 years of age.

Researchers found there were no consistent patterns between maternal caffeine ingestion and the development and behavior of those children at those points in their lives.

This study follows previous research regarding caffeine consumption during pregnancy conducted at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's. Dr. Klebanoff and Sarah Keim, PhD, co-author and principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's, published a study in Epidemiology in March 2015 involving the same group of women from The Collaborative Perinatal Project and found that increased ingestion of caffeine during pregnancy did not increase the risk of childhood obesity.

Of the children in the study, about 11 percent were considered obese at 4 years and about 7 percent at 7 years. However, the researchers found no associations between their mother's caffeine intake and these occurrences of obesity.

"Taken as a whole, we consider our results to be reassuring for pregnant women who consume moderate amounts of caffeine or the equivalent to 1 or 2 cups of coffee per day," said Dr. Keim, who is also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151119211435.htm

Short winter days trigger aggression hormones differently based on sex

Territorial hamsters reveal biological mechanism behind the difference in male versus female aggression

November 18, 2015

Science Daily/Indiana University

Researchers have discovered a hormonal mechanism in hamsters that connects short winter days with increased aggression in females, and that it differs from the mechanism that controls this same response in males.

https://images.sciencedaily.com/2015/11/151118070754_1_540x360.jpg

A female hamster displays aggressive behavior.

Credit: Frank Scherbarth

The work, which advances basic knowledge on the connection between certain sex hormones and aggression, could go on to advance research on the treatment of inappropriate aggression in humans.

The study appears online Nov. 18 in the Proceedings of the Royal Academy B. The research is a collaboration between the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

"This study reveals a ripe area for research," said Nikki Rendon, a Ph.D. student in biology and lead author on the study.

"The results show for the first time that melatonin acts directly on the adrenal glands in females to trigger a 'seasonal aggression switch' from hormones in the gonads to hormones in the adrenal glands -- a major contrast to how this mechanism works in males."

Other IU authors were Gregory Demas, professor of biology, and Dale Sengelaub, professor of psychological and brain sciences.

Rendon is a member in the lab of Demas, who was part of the team that first discovered a connection between shorter days and aggression in animals.

Demas' earlier research also found that wintertime aggression in hamsters arises not from sex hormones in the gonads -- ovaries in females and testes in males, which grow less active during shorter days -- but rather the adrenal glands, located at the top of the kidneys.

Melatonin is a hormone that rises in the body during darkness and lowers during daylight. The hormone from the adrenal gland is dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, a sex steroid shown to affect aggression levels in mammals and birds, and possibly humans. Professional sports competitions have banned the use of DHEA in athletes.

In another previous study, Demas' lab found that melatonin -- in concert with a hormone secreted by the brain's pituitary gland called adrenocorticotropic, or ACTH -- increases the output and enhances the effects of DHEA from adrenal glands in males.

In contrast, Rendon and colleagues' new study reveals that melatonin acts directly on the adrenal glands in females to trigger the release of DHEA, without the need for the pituitary hormone.

DHEA can be converted to androgens and estrogens, which affect aggression in both males and females. In females, DHEA appears to compensate for low levels of estradiol -- a form of estrogen -- that occurs during the winter.

Evolutionarily, wintertime aggression may confer an advantage during periods of scarce food.

"This study, which builds upon our previous work investigating the connection between short days and aggression in males, shows noteworthy hormonal mechanisms in females and provides important new insights into the role of sex in these mechanisms," Demas said.

The research was conducted in Siberian hamsters, or Phodopus sungorus, a species with a similar adrenal system to humans. About 130 hamsters were exposed to long days for a week, after which 45 were exposed to shorter days for 10 weeks. A random subset also received an injection of ACTH.

A highly territorial species, the hamsters were then placed in situations where one hamster was perceived as an intruder into the other's territory, sparking aggressive actions and short physical fights. The scientists then tracked certain actions, such as the time until an attack, the number of attacks and the length of the attacks, to assign an "aggression score."

The female hamsters exposed to shorter days had increased levels of both melatonin and DHEA -- and higher aggression scores -- along with physical changes in their adrenal glands.

Females exposed to longer days did not experience these changes, including those that had received an injection of ACTH, which is known to trigger the release of DHEA.

Collectively, the results show that melatonin is the primary regulator of aggression in females.

"It's growing increasingly clear that sex hormones play an important role in controlling aggression in both males and females -- but females, human and non-human, are traditionally vastly understudied in the sciences," Rendon said. "By conducting this research on females, we are increasing our understanding of hormones and social behavior in a field currently dominated by discussions on testosterone regulating aggression in males."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151118070754.htm

Products expectant mothers should avoid during first trimester

The list is long and includes cleaning solvents, pesticides, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

October 26, 2015

Science Daily/York University

Expectant mothers in their first trimester should avoid certain cosmetics, cleaning agents and medicines, to protect the developing fetal brain from chemicals that can trigger autism, health researchers advise.

"The products that we use on a daily basis, such as creams and cosmetics, contain chemicals that could potentially affect a developing baby during pregnancy," says Professor Dorota Crawford in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, Faculty of Health.

The list is long: cleaning solvents, pesticides, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as acetylsalicylic acid; misoprostol (a drug used for inducing labor); polychlorinated bisphenyls used as industrial lubricants; polybrominated diphenyl ethers found in wood and textiles; phthalates in PVC flooring, children's toys, and cosmetics and lotions.

The researchers, Crawford and co-authors Christine Wong and Joshua Wais, report that aside from the type of chemical a pregnant woman is exposed to, the duration, the frequency and the concentration level also impact a developing brain at the prenatal stage.

"We recommend that women learn about health effects from exposure to chemical substances in the environment," says PhD candidate Wong, adding that assessment information is found in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the researchers, prenatal brain development undergoes constant changes and its normal functioning depends greatly on the presence of specific genes at any given time. Since environmental factors influence the expression levels of these critical genes, it is important for an expectant mother to be aware and cautious of exposure to these factors.

This review article by Crawford and coauthors Christine Wong and Joshua Wais, titled "Prenatal exposure to common environmental factors affects brain lipids and increases risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorders," was recently published in the European Journal of Neuroscience. The authors summarize existing research on environmental agents that can affect the level of important lipid mediators including prostaglandin E2 or PGE2. This major lipid molecule naturally found in the brain is important in regulating the expression of essential genes required for early brain development and its proper function.

Crawford says only a few clinical studies have delved into the dosage level and exposure time that affects the developing brain. "Specific concentration ranges for chemicals and the duration of exposure in humans still need to be established through research."

Investigation into molecular mechanisms that lead to how these chemicals disrupt the growing brain and also how the chemicals enter the fetal brain will be crucial to understand how they may contribute to brain pathologies, according to Crawford.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151026111957.htm

Skin-to-skin contact with baby in neonatal unit decreases maternal stress levels

Already linked to happier, healthier newborns, study finds that snuggling with babies in intensive care eases mothers' anxiety that can interfere with parent-child bonding

October 23, 2015

Science Daily/American Academy of Pediatrics

Research shows that stable parent-child bonds are fundamental to healthy child development. For parents of babies born prematurely or with special medical needs, this early bonding can be interrupted by the complex medical care required in a neonatal intensive care unit.

An ongoing study conducted at a large metropolitan NICU, however, shows that a little skin-to-skin snuggling between mothers and babies can go a long way toward reducing maternal stress levels.

The study, to be presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference & Exhibition, examined mothers' stress levels before and after they held their babies "kangaroo style" (skin-to-skin inside the pouch of the parent's shirt) for at least one hour.

"We found that all of the mothers reported an objective decrease in their stress level after skin-to-skin contact with their babies," said neonatologist Natalia Isaza, MD, FAAP of Children's National Health System in Washington, DC. This was especially true regarding the reported stress of being separated from their infants, feeling helpless and unable to protect their infant from pain and painful procedures, and the general experience in the NICU, she said.

Birthweights of the infants ranged from less than 1 pound to over 8 pounds (0.38 to 3.7 kg), and their ages varied from 3 to 109 days. The infants were being treated for a diversity of health issues, with more than half requiring oxygen support.

"We already know there are physiological benefits in the newborns when they are held skin-to-skin," Dr. Isaza said, such as stabilization of heart rate, breathing patterns and blood oxygen levels, gains in sleep time and weight, decreased crying, greater breastfeeding success and earlier hospital discharge. "Now we have more evidence that skin-to-skin contact can also decrease parental stress that can interfere with bonding, health and emotional wellness, and the interpersonal relations of parents, as well as breastfeeding rates."

"This is a simple technique to benefit both parent and child that perhaps should be encouraged in all NICUs," Dr. Isaza said.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151023083247.htm

Bisexual and questioning women have higher risk of eating disorders

September 2, 2015

Science Daily/Drexel University

Lesbian women are no more likely to develop eating disorders than straight peers

Young women who are attracted to both sexes or who are unsure about who they are attracted to are more likely to develop an eating disorder than those attracted to only one sex, according to a new study.

However, the results of the study suggest that females attracted to the same-sex are no more likely to experience disordered eating symptoms than their peers with opposite-sex attractions. This finding is contrary to previous assumptions that same-sex attraction plays a protective role against eating pathology in females.

"The results of this study suggests there may be notable differences in disordered eating symptoms across LGBQ persons," said lead author Annie Shearer, outcomes research assistant for Drexel University's Center for Family Intervention Science in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. "Given the severe physical and emotional repercussions of eating disorders, these findings underscore the need for primary care physicians to ask about both sexuality and disordered eating symptoms during routine visits."

The study also found that males who were attracted to other males or both sexes had higher rates of eating disorders than males only attracted to the opposite sex, which is supported by previous research.

"While there is a lot of research indicating gay and bisexual men exhibit higher rates of eating disorders than heterosexual men, findings have been mixed with respect to women," said Shearer. "Moreover, bisexual and -- to an even greater degree -- questioning persons are often excluded from these studies."

The study, "The Relationship between Disordered Eating and Sexuality amongst Adolescents and Young Adults," is now available online and will appear in a forthcoming print issue of Eating Behaviors, an international peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing human research on the etiology, prevention and treatment of obesity, binge eating and eating disorders in adults and children.

In order to examine disordered eating symptoms and sexuality in adolescents and young adults, the researchers recruited participants from ten primary care sites in Pennsylvania and administered a Behavioral Health Screen -- a web-based screening tool that assesses psychiatric symptoms and risk behaviors -- during a routine visit. More than 2,000 youths, ages 14-24, were surveyed.

Participants' eating behaviors were assessed through questions such as, how often do you think that you are fat even though some people say that you are skinny? How often do you try to control your weight by skipping meals? And, how often do you try to control your weight by making yourself throw up?

Sexual attraction was computed based on participants' gender and to which sex participants reported they felt most attracted to: either males, females, both or not sure. In order to define sexual behavior, participants were asked whom they had engaged in sexual activities: males, females or both.

As expected, males who were attracted to other males exhibited significantly higher disordered eating scores than those only attracted to members of the opposite sex. Males who engaged in sexual activities with other males also exhibited significantly higher scores than those who only engaged in sexual activities with females.

Amongst females, there were no significant differences in disordered eating scores between females who were only attracted to females and those only attracted to males. Those who reported being attracted to both sexes, however, had significantly higher scores, on average, than those only attracted to one sex.

More surprisingly, according to the researchers, females who were unsure of who they were attracted to reported the highest disordered eating symptoms scores of all.

"This study highlights the need to increase sensitivity to the unique needs of sexual minority youth as a group and for the particularly sub groups in that population," said Guy S. Diamond, PhD, associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, director of the Couple and Family Therapy Doctoral Program and director of the Center for Family Intervention Science, who co-authored the study. "But it also demonstrates the value of standardized, comprehensive screening for mental health concerns in primary care."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150902093253.htm

Forgiving others protects women from depression, but not men

Results may help counselors develop gender-appropriate interventions

September 1, 2015

Science Daily/University of Missouri-Columbia

Researchers studied how different facets of forgiveness affected aging adults' feelings of depression. The researchers found older women who forgave others were less likely to report depressive symptoms regardless of whether they felt unforgiven by others. Older men, however, reported the highest levels of depression when they both forgave others and felt unforgiven by others. The researchers say their results may help counselors of older adults develop gender-appropriate interventions since men and women process forgiveness differently.

Forgiveness is a complex process, one often fraught with difficulty and angst. Now, researchers in the University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences studied how different facets of forgiveness affected aging adults' feelings of depression. The researchers found older women who forgave others were less likely to report depressive symptoms regardless of whether they felt unforgiven by others. Older men, however, reported the highest levels of depression when they both forgave others and felt unforgiven by others. The researchers say their results may help counselors of older adults develop gender-appropriate interventions since men and women process forgiveness differently.

"It doesn't feel good when we perceive that others haven't forgiven us for something," said Christine Proulx, study co-author and an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. "When we think about forgiveness and characteristics of people who are forgiving -- altruistic, compassionate, empathetic -- these people forgive others and seem to compensate for the fact that others aren't forgiving them. It sounds like moral superiority, but it's not about being a better person. It's 'I know that this hurts because it's hurting me,' and those people are more likely to forgive others, which appears to help decrease levels of depression, particularly for women."

Proulx and lead author Ashley Ermer, a doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Science, analyzed data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey, a national survey of more than 1,000 adults ages 67 and older. Survey participants answered questions about their religion, health and psychological well-being.

Proulx said they studied forgiveness among an older population because of the tendency among older individuals to reflect on their lives, especially their relationships and transgressions, both as wrongdoers and as those who had experienced wrongdoing.

"As people get older, they become more forgiving," Ermer said. "Our population also predominately was Christian, which may influence individuals' willingness to forgive and could function differently among individuals with different beliefs."

The researchers found men and women who feel unforgiven by others are somewhat protected against depression when they are able to forgive themselves. Yet, the researchers said they were surprised to find that forgiving oneself did not more significantly reduce levels of depression.

"Self-forgiveness didn't act as the protector against depression," Proulx said. "It's really about whether individuals can forgive other people and their willingness to forgive others."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150901135117.htm

Women in mostly male workplaces exhibit psychological stress response

August 24, 2015

Science Daily/Indiana University

Today's workforce is highly sex-segregated -- for example, most elementary school teachers are women, while most chemistry professors are men. Researchers examine one important consequence of this occupational sex segregation: the stress exposure of women working in highly male-dominated occupations.

"We find that such women are more likely to experience exposure to high levels of interpersonal, workplace stressors," Manago said.

Previous research has shown that women working in male-dominated occupations face particular challenges. They encounter social isolation, performance pressures, sexual harassment, obstacles to mobility, moments of both high visibility and invisibility, co-workers' doubts about their competence, and low levels of workplace social support. Chronic exposure to these types of social stressors is known to cause vulnerability to disease and mortality through dysregulation of the human body's stress response.

Manago and Taylor measure whether women in occupations that were made up of 85 percent or more men, also known as "token" women, show such dysregulation by analyzing their daily cortisol patterns. Cortisol is a stress hormone that naturally fluctuates through the day, but people with high levels of interpersonal stress exposure have different patterns of fluctuation than people exposed to more average levels of stress.

"We find that women in male-dominated occupations have less healthy, or 'dysregulated,' patterns of cortisol throughout the day," Manago said. "We use nationally representative data, the MIDUS National Study of Daily Experiences, which allow us to assess women's cortisol profiles in workers across the United States.

"We also use statistical techniques to account for individuals' occupational and individual-level characteristics, allowing us to be more confident that the dysregulation of cortisol profiles we observe is due to the negative working conditions of token women, and not their own personal characteristics nor the characteristics of their occupations."

Previous work has shown that women in male-dominated occupations encounter difficult and negative workplace climates. And previous researchers have hypothesized that exposure to such difficult and negative workplace climates can expose these women to chronic stress. The IU research is the first to demonstrate that such negative workplace climates can be expressed in these women's bodies and can, in fact, dysregulate their stress response, potentially for years after the exposure to the stressful workplace climate.

"Our findings are especially important because dysregulated cortisol profiles are associated with negative health outcomes," Taylor said. "Thus, our project provides evidence that the negative workplace social climates encountered by women in male-dominated occupations may be linked to later negative health outcomes for these women."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150824130459.htm

Increased risk of depression for mothers undergoing fertility treatment

Science Daily/August 18, 2015

University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Women giving birth after undergoing fertility treatment face an increased risk of depression compared to women ending up not having a child following fertility treatment, according to new research. According to the researchers, this has key implications for fertility treatment in future.

Danish researchers are among the first worldwide to study the risk of developing a clinical depression for women undergoing fertility treatment. The new study shows that women who give birth after receiving fertility treatment are five times more likely to develop depression compared to women who don't give birth.

"The new results are surprising because we had assumed it was actually quite the opposite. However, our study clearly shows that women who become mothers following fertility treatment have an increased risk of developing depression in the first six weeks after birth compared to women who did not have a child. Our study has not looked at why the depression occurs, but other studies indicate that it could be caused by hormonal changes or mental factors, but we cannot say for sure. We did not find any correlation between the number of fertility treatments and the subsequent risk of depression," says one of the driving forces behind the study, Camilla Sandal Sejbaek, PhD, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.

Important findings for future treatment

The new research is based on data from 41,000 Danish women who have undergone fertility treatment in which an egg is removed from the body and fertilised in a laboratory. The study is based on unique register information from fertility clinics in Denmark.

"Infertility affects one in four to six couples who are trying to conceive, and our research sheds light on a little-known field. By focusing on the link between having a child after undergoing fertility treatment and the risk of depression, our research can give professionals useful tools in the form of advice and how to handle a pregnancy before and after birth. In addition, the findings are important in relation to couples who are thinking about starting fertility treatment. "It can be a tough process, and our findings show there is not a greater risk of depression if the treatment is unsuccessful," says Associate Professor Lone Schmidt, MD, DMSci, PhD from the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150818120551.htm

First-of-its-kind study finds music therapy lowers anxiety during surgical breast biopsies

August 17, 2015

University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Music therapy lessened anxiety for women undergoing surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment, finds a first-of-its-kind study. The two-year study involved 207 patients. The randomized controlled trial tested music therapy for anxiety management with women undergoing outpatient breast cancer surgery, and it is the largest study of its kind to use live music therapy in the surgical arena.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial to test music therapy for anxiety management with women undergoing outpatient breast cancer surgery, and the largest study of its kind to use live music therapy in the surgical arena," said lead author Jaclyn Bradley Palmer, music therapist at UH. "Our aim was to determine if music therapy affected anxiety levels, anesthesia requirements, recovery time and patient satisfaction with the surgical experience," she said.

Patients were randomly assigned to one of three study groups. One group listened to preferred live music before surgery, one listened to preferred recorded music, and one experienced usual care with no music before surgery. The participants who listened to either recorded or live music, selected their song choice, which was downloaded and played or learned and performed by the music therapist preoperatively.

"We discovered that anxiety levels dropped significantly from pre-test to post-test in patients who heard one preferred song of either live or recorded music before surgery," said Bradley Palmer. "In this trial, both live and recorded preoperative music therapy interventions reduced anxiety significantly more than usual preoperative management by 28 and 27 points, representing percent reductions of 43 percent and 41 percent, respectively."

For the study, a nurse research assistant administered a pre-test to obtain a baseline reading on the women's anxiety levels, then a post-test after 5 minutes of music therapy or usual care without music. Live music was performed vocally with guitar or keyboard accompaniment by a music therapist who stood at the patient's bedside and presented the brief music therapy session as the patient awaited surgery.

Whether patients heard live music or pre-recorded music before surgery, music therapists in both instances would engage the patients for five minutes in a short music therapy session which included the preferred song, conversation over the music choice and processing of any emotions which may have arisen. During surgery, the two groups that experienced live or recorded music, also listened to staff-selected, pre-recorded harp music through headphones, carefully chosen for its smooth melodic lines, stable rhythms, and consistent dynamics.

Patients in the control group received usual pre-operative care with no music therapy and awaited surgery in typical fashion. The control group was given noise blocking earmuffs during surgery to cancel out any potential music played by the surgeon.

In addition to anxiety measurement, researchers also looked at patient satisfaction, recovery time and the amount of anesthesia (drug: propofol) administered to reach moderate sedation during surgery.

"There wasn't a significant difference in anxiety between live music and recorded music," added Bradley Palmer. "It seems like music, no matter how it is delivered, had a similar effect on reducing a patient's preoperative anxiety."

Deforia Lane, Ph.D., Director of Art and Music Therapy at UH Seidman Cancer Center and one of the co-authors of the study, said "We know that music touches parts of our brain: The emotional center that creates release of our body's natural opiates, for example, endorphins, enkephalins and serotonin. All of those things that are released, are triggered by auditory stimulation, and music is prime in that… and it's without using any pharmacologic intervention-it is simply using the music as medicine."

The music groups and controls did not differ in the amount of anesthesia requirement needed to reach moderate sedation, and satisfaction scores were universally high across all groups. Recovery time did not differ among the music and the control groups, but those who listened to live music preoperatively had a shorter recovery time when compared to those who received recorded music. Additionally, subjective reactions to perioperative music therapy revealed that it may be an enjoyable addition to the surgical experience.

"What we can conclude from our findings is that music therapy may effectively serve as a complimentary modality during cancer surgery treatment. A brief music therapy session has the ability to manage the anxiety that surrounds breast cancer surgery in a way that is effective, safe, time-efficient and enjoyable," said Bradley Palmer.

The study was funded by a Kulas Foundation grant to the music department of UH Seidman Cancer Center. Other researchers included Diane Mayo, MSN, UH Case Medical Center, Mark Schluchter, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, and Rosemary Leeming, MD, Director of the Comprehensive Breast Program, with UH Seidman Cancer Center at the time of the study and now with Geisinger Health System.

"Women facing surgery for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment may be understandably anxious as they face the unknown," said Bradley Palmer. "By offering the additional care of preferred music therapy, women may be comforted and supported by familiar melodies and lyrics that offer the expected and familiar during an unusual time and environment. During this trial, it has been an honor to serve hundreds of women facing a crucial time, and I hope that our findings will inspire other hospitals to implement surgical music therapy so that many patients may benefit in the future."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150817161203.htm

Researchers discover surprising link between chronic stress, preterm birth

July 16, 2015

Science Daily/University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

New study shows adverse life events in childhood can heighten a woman's risk of preterm birth.

Excessive stress can result in preterm birth, which has been show to affect a person's health throughout their life, surprising new research shows. The World Health Organization estimates 15 million babies are born preterm each year. It is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five, and babies who survive are at much higher risk of developing a number of health conditions including chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease and metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

"Chronic stress is one of the better predictors of preterm birth," says Olson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "In fact, if women are exposed to two or more adverse childhood experiences while growing up, their risk of preterm birth doubles."

Olson, along with Kathleen Hegadoren, a professor in the U of A's Faculty of Nursing, and graduate student Inge Christiaens, are the authors of a new study in the journal BMC Medicine linking chronic stress with preterm birth.

The World Health Organization estimates 15 million babies are born preterm each year. It is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five, and babies who survive are at much higher risk of developing a number of health conditions including chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease and metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes. They are also at increased risk for both cognitive and behavioural issues.

As part of the study, the researchers recruited more than 200 women who had given birth in Edmonton-area hospitals. One-third of the women had given birth preterm, with the remaining women having delivered at term. The women were asked to fill out a stress questionnaire, giving researchers insight into their early life experiences and the stresses that resulted from those experiences.

"All of the adverse childhood events that we asked about had to occur prior to the age of 18, and the average age of delivery in our study was 28 years. These adverse childhood events occurred, on average, 10 years or more before the women actually delivered," says Olson.

"Although not inevitable, childhood adversity can result in long-term impacts on health across the lifespan, including pregnancy outcomes," adds Hegadoren. "Prenatal care providers need to ask pregnant women about past and current experiences that may have affected their health. In doing that, they can help women understand a potential link between life experiences and preterm birth risk."

Though the research gives important new understanding about preterm birth, more answers are still needed. The researchers are now exploring how the body can "remember" traumatic events early in life in such a way that it affects health outcomes years later. Olson believes that a high burden of stressful experiences in childhood may cause changes in how genes are expressed in later life. He notes that earlier published studies involving preclinical models suggest that may be the case but that further human studies are needed.

Olson and Hegadoren hope to continue building upon the research to better predict which women will be at risk of preterm birth. They also hope to develop early interventions.

"If we know who is at risk, we can begin to treat them before the end of their pregnancy--and hopefully they'll have improved pregnancy outcomes."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150716101515.htm

Regular aerobic exercise boosts memory area of brain in older women

April 8, 2014

Science Daily/BMJ-British Medical Journal

Regular aerobic exercise seems to boost the size of the area of the brain (hippocampus) involved in verbal memory and learning among women whose intellectual capacity has been affected by age, indicates a small study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The hippocampus has become a focus of interest in dementia research because it is the area of the brain involved in verbal memory and learning, but it is very sensitive to the effects of aging and neurological damage.

The researchers tested the impact of different types of exercise on the hippocampal volume of 86 women who said they had mild memory problems, known as mild cognitive impairment -- and a common risk factor for dementia.

All the women were aged between 70 and 80 years old and were living independently at home.

Roughly equal numbers of them were assigned to either twice weekly hour long sessions of aerobic training (brisk walking); or resistance training, such as lunges, squats, and weights; or balance and muscle toning exercises, for a period of six months.

The size of their hippocampus was assessed at the start and the end of the six month period by means of an MRI scan, and their verbal memory and learning capacity was assessed before and afterward using a validated test (RAVLT).

Only 29 of the women had before and after MRI scans, but the results showed that the total volume of the hippocampus in the group who had completed the full six months of aerobic training was significantly larger than that of those who had lasted the course doing balance and muscle toning exercises.

No such difference in hippocampal volume was seen in those doing resistance training compared with the balance and muscle toning group.

However, despite an earlier finding in the same sample of women that aerobic exercise improved verbal memory, there was some evidence to suggest that an increase in hippocampal volume was associated with poorer verbal memory.

This suggests that the relationship between brain volume and cognitive performance is complex, and requires further research, say the authors.

But at the very least, aerobic exercise seems to be able to slow the shrinkage of the hippocampus and maintain the volume in a group of women who are at risk of developing dementia, they say.

And they recommend regular aerobic exercise to stave off mild cognitive decline, which is especially important, given the mounting evidence showing that regular exercise is good for cognitive function and overall brain health, and the rising toll of dementia.

Worldwide, one new case of dementia is diagnosed every four seconds, with the number of those afflicted set to rise to more than 115 million by 2050, they point out.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140408213545.htm