Culture

Pregnant Arab women have an "extraordinarily high prevalence" of vitamin D deficiency – a potential health issue for them and their babies, according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

The vitamin deficiency is largely due to how Arab women dress outdoors – preventing exposure of the skin to sunlight and subsequent vitamin D intake, according to Adekunle Dawodu, M.D., a physician in the Center for Global Child Health at Cincinnati Children's and lead author of the study.

Washington, DC, May 3, 2010--Kids who have just started smoking, but not on a daily basis, don't seem to recognize the early symptoms of dependence, according to a new study.

Published in the latest issue of Pediatrics by Chyke Doubeni, MD, MPH of the University of Massachusetts, the study found that among kids who have started smoking, "an urge to smoke or being irritable because they are not able to smoke is a sign of early dependence. But they don't seem to recognize that symptoms such as irritability are harbingers of addiction."

DETROIT – Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital may have found a better way to prep patients for colonoscopy procedures so they no longer need to drink a gallon of prescribed fluids prior to the procedure.

The study found that patients who took a pill that is FDA-approved for chronic constipation as part of the colonoscopy prep only needed to drink half of the liquid previously required to cleanse the bowels.

NEW ORLEANS, LA (May 4, 2010) – Research being presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW®) shows that using telaprevir in the treatment regimen for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly effective, particularly in difficult-to-treat cases. Further studies show that aspirin may be a factor in the development of inflammatory bowel disease. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the field of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

A new national survey on public attitudes toward medical applications and physical enhancements that rely on nanotechnology shows that support for the technology increases when the public is informed of the technology's risks as well as its benefits – at least among those people who have heard of nanotechnology. The survey, which was conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University and Arizona State University (ASU), also found that discussing risks decreased support among those people who had never previously heard of nanotechnology – but not by much.

Research carried out by the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Federico II University Medical School in Naples, Italy, has found that people who sleep for less than six hours each night were 12% more likely to die prematurely than those who get the recommended 6-8 hours.

The study, published today in the journal Sleep, provides unequivocal evidence of the direct link between short duration of sleep (less than 6 hours sleep a night) and an increased chance of dying prematurely.

It appears that people are listening to doctors' orders to protect their skin from the sun. In the largest Canadian study of non-melanoma skin cancer, Andrei Metelitsa, Gordon Jung and their research group have found skin cancer rates in Alberta are going down in men and have levelled off for women. This comes at a time when American scientists say that skin cancer rates are on the rise.

Montreal, May 3, 2010 – Want kids who are smarter and thinner? Keep them away from the television set as toddlers. A shocking study from child experts at the Université de Montréal, the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center and the University of Michigan, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, has found that television exposure at age two forecasts negative consequences for kids, ranging from poor school adjustment to unhealthy habits.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Astronauts could one day tend their own crops on long space missions, and Purdue University researchers have found a healthy candidate to help satisfy a sweet tooth - a strawberry that requires little maintenance and energy.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A compound derived from broccoli could help prevent or treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells -- the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth -- according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study tested sulforaphane, a component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts, in both mice and cell cultures. Researchers found sulforaphane targeted and killed the cancer stem cells and prevented new tumors from growing.

Charles Darwin's worries about possible adverse effects of inbreeding in his family seem to have been justified, according to a study described in the May 2010 issue of BioScience. Darwin married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and his mother, Susannah Wedgwood, was the daughter of third cousins. The study, which extended to 25 families including 176 children, found a statistical association between child mortality and the inbreeding coefficient of individuals in the Darwin/Wedgwood dynasty.

St. Louis, MO, May 3, 2010 – Living in a food-insecure household during pregnancy may increase the odds of greater weight gain and pregnancy complications, particularly gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), according to a new study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Household food insecurity, the inability to obtain nutritious and safe foods in socially acceptable ways, is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for many poor health outcomes among women.

Adolescents, especially those who are not very physically active, eat too much sweet and fatty foods and not enough fruits and vegetables. This is the conclusion of a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, on dietary choices, exercise habits and prevalence of obesity among young people.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Communities across the United States are developing programs to address child bullying. New research shows that parents can play an important role in preventing their children from becoming bullies in the first place.

"Improving parent-child communication and parental involvement with their children could have a substantial impact on child bullying," said Rashmi Shetgiri, MD, MSHS, lead author of a study to be presented Monday, May 3 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.