“Smoking in Pregnancy Linked to Psychotic Symptoms in Kids - Yahoo News” plus 4 more

Smoking in Pregnancy Linked to Psychotic Symptoms in Kids - Yahoo News
Treating mild diabetes during pregnancy beneficial - The Ledger
Smoking During Pregnancy Puts Children At Risk Of Psychotic Symptoms - Science Daily
Stillbirth in first pregnancy raises risk for subsequent pregnancy - Xinhua News Agency
Smoking in Pregnancy Linked to Psychotic Symptoms in Kids - Yahoo News

Smoking in Pregnancy Linked to Psychotic Symptoms in Kids - Yahoo News

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 06:52 PM PDT

Giovanni buzzed up: Before Lucy came Ardi, new earliest hominid found (AP)

16 seconds ago 2009-10-01T22:42:01-07:00

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Treating mild diabetes during pregnancy beneficial - The Ledger

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:21 PM PDT

Pregnant women in the U.S. are routinely tested and treated for high blood sugar levels, although it hasn't been clear whether treating the mildest cases really benefited them and their infants.

In a study of 950 women, those with mild gestational diabetes who were treated had fewer overly large babies, fewer cesarean sections and fewer pregnancy complications, compared to women who didn't have their diabetes treated.

"There is every reason to fully treat women with even the mildest (gestational diabetes) based on our results," said the study's leader, Dr. Mark Landon of Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

Gestational diabetes begins during pregnancy and usually goes away after childbirth. It affects as many as one in seven pregnant women, depending on the population. The mother's elevated blood sugar can cause the fetus to grow too large, sometimes requiring a C-section and can bring on other health problems for the mother and baby.

Risk factors include being over 25, being obese and a family history of diabetes.

Medical groups support testing pregnant women for the condition and treatment, although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government health panel, said last year there wasn't enough evidence to recommend screening.

Landon said he'd had doubts about treating mild cases, and was surprised by the results.

"I did it, yet I wondered, 'Was I overtreating?'" he said.

For the government-funded study, 958 women with mild gestational diabetes were recruited at 15 medical centers. They got either diabetes treatment or standard prenatal care. Treatment included diet counseling and insulin if needed to get their blood sugar under control.

In the treatment group, there were fewer babies of unusually large size (7 percent vs. 15 percent in the untreated group) and fewer babies weighed more than about 9 pounds

There were also fewer C-sections and cases of preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication. There were no deaths in either group, and no difference in other birth-related complications.

Landon noted that a "remarkable" 93 percent of the women in the treatment group kept their blood sugar under control with diet alone.

Dr. David A. Sacks of Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Bellflower, Calif., said switching to a healthier diet could help other pregnant women limit weight gain, too. More large babies are born to overweight or obese women who don't have diabetes, he said.

"This is a real easy therapy to apply to every single pregnant lady," said Sacks, who wrote an editorial about the study in the journal.

Even before she got pregnant, Lorenda Donaugh knew all about gestational diabetes. She works with Landon at Ohio State, doing ultrasounds for his patients, and ended up becoming one after she was diagnosed at 28 weeks with a mild case.

Donaugh, who was not part of the study, monitored her blood sugar several times a day, modified her diet and took extra walks. She eventually took a diabetes medication.

The work paid off. She delivered a healthy daughter on Sept. 14. Adelynn weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and her mom had only gained a modest 22 pounds.

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Smoking During Pregnancy Puts Children At Risk Of Psychotic Symptoms - Science Daily

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 08:04 PM PDT

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2009) — Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms in their teenage years.

New research published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry shows a link between maternal tobacco use and psychotic symptoms.

Researchers from Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham and Warwick Universities studied 6,356 12-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. All the children completed an interview for psychotic-like symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions. Just over 11% of the children (734) had suspected or definite symptoms of psychosis.

Smoking during pregnancy was found to be associated with an increased risk of psychotic symptoms in the children. The researchers observed a 'dose-response effect', meaning that the risk of psychotic symptoms was highest in the children whose mothers smoked the most heavily during pregnancy.

The study also examined whether alcohol use and cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of psychotic symptoms.

Drinking during pregnancy was associated with increased psychotic symptoms, but only in the children of mothers who had drunk more than 21 units of alcohol a week in early pregnancy. Only a few mothers in the study said they had smoked cannabis during pregnancy, and this was not found to have any significant association with psychotic symptoms.

The reasons for the link between maternal tobacco use and psychotic symptoms are uncertain. But the researchers suggest that exposure to tobacco in the womb may have an indirect impact by affecting children's impulsivity, attention or cognition. They have called for further studies to investigate how exposure to tobacco in utero affects on the development and function of children's brains.

It is estimated that between 15 and 20 per cent of women in the UK continue to smoke during their pregnancy.

Dr Stanley Zammit, a psychiatrist at Cardiff University's School of Medicine and lead author of the study, said "In our cohort, approximately 19 per cent of adolescents who were interviewed had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

"If our results are non-biased and reflect a causal relationship, we can estimate that about 20 per cent of adolescents in this cohort would not have developed psychotic symptoms if their mothers had not smoked. Therefore, maternal smoking may be an important risk factor in the development of psychotic experiences in the population."

Journal reference:

Zammit S, Thomas K, Thompson A, Horwood J, Menezes P, Gunnell D, Hollis C, Wolke D, Lewis G and Harrison G. Maternal tobacco, cannabis and alcohol use during pregnancy and risk of adolescent psychotic symptoms in offspring. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195: 294-300

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Stillbirth in first pregnancy raises risk for subsequent pregnancy - Xinhua News Agency

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 08:47 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Women who experience a stillbirth in their first pregnancy may be at higher risk for complications or adverse outcomes in their next pregnancy, a new study has said.

A first pregnancy which resulted in stillbirth was associated with increased risk of placental diseases, fetal distress, chorioamnionitis and neonatal mortality in the second pregnancy, compared to a pregnancy that resulted in live birth, according to a study appearing online in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study was conducted by researchers at Kaiser Permanente, a medical institution in Los Angeles.

The researchers examined 71,315 Kaiser Permanente Southern California members from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds who delivered one child at 20-44 weeks' gestation between 1991 to 2008.

They found that women whose first pregnancy resulted in stillbirth tended to be younger, African American and had started prenatal care later in the pregnancy, as well as having a shorter interval between the first two pregnancies.

A stillbirth in the first pregnancy was also associated with an increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirth in the second pregnancy, an observation that is consistent with the findings of previous studies, said Dr. Darios Getahun, the study's lead author.

"When it comes to healthy pregnancies, it appears that early initiation of prenatal care is the key to lowering the risk of adverse outcomes in pregnancies," said Getahun.

Early initiation and consistent treatment of hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, bacterial infections and other pre-existing health problems before conception and during pregnancy may help reduce stillbirth incidences, he said.

"It is also critical for the mother to take time to physically and psychologically heal from the first stillbirth before conceiving again," Getahun said.

Each year in the United States, there are about 25,000 stillbirths, defined as the death of a fetus at greater than or equal to 20 weeks of gestation. Despite technological advances in obstetric and neonatal care, it remains one of the major causes of perinatal mortality in developed countries and even more so in developing countries.