In the News II

The Dr. Brewer Pregnancy Diet

In the News II

Previous News Items

Nerve system link to PMS misery (20 December 2007)

Women with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) may have a permanently depressed nervous system, research suggests.

Guatemala adoptions: a baby trade? (17 December 2007)

Following months of debate, the Guatemalan Congress passed a bill last week bringing national adoption laws into line with an international treaty.

Supporters of the legislation say it will end a murky "baby trade", in which adoption lawyers make big profits and mothers are often paid or coerced to give up their children.

Sperm clue to 'disease immunity' (17 December 2007)

Sperm could provide a vital clue to how diseases like cancer and HIV spread through the body, a study suggests.

UK researchers have identified markers on the surface of human sperm which prevent them being attacked by the female immune system.

Smoking 'raises risk of diabetes' (12 December 2007)

Smoking is linked to a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, US research suggests.

UK-born quintuplets 'doing well' (15 November 2007)

Quintuplets born to a Russian woman in a British hospital are doing well, according to doctors.

Concern over menstrual blood bank (12 November 2007)

Experts have expressed concern over the launch by a US company of a service for women to store their own menstrual blood.

Warning issued over egg freezing (17 October 2007)

Egg freezing should not be offered to women who want to put off having a family purely for lifestyle reasons, say experts.

Housework 'can cause asthma' (12 October 2007)

Giving your house a weekly clean could be enough to give you asthma, according to research.

A study found using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week raised the risk of asthma.

Mother seeks girl's hysterectomy (7 October 2007)

The mother of a severely disabled teenager has asked doctors to give her daughter a hysterectomy to stop her from starting menstruation.

Russian 'sex day' to boost births (12 September 2007)

The governor of Ulyanovsk region in Russia is offering prizes to couples who have babies in exactly nine months - on Russia's national day on 12 June.

I include this item as a women's issue, a justice issue, and an issue of acceptance of all babies, regardless of gender.

Chinese woman's 'needle ordeal' (7 September 2007)

Doctors in China have discovered 26 sewing needles embedded in the body of a 31-year-old woman.

They think they were inserted into Luo Cuifen's body when she was a baby by grandparents upset she was not a boy.

Ovary removal 'raises brain risk' (30 August 2007)

Women who have ovaries removed before the menopause could be increasing their risk of both Parkinson's Disease and memory problems, research suggests.

Miscarriage prompts Japan pledge (30 August 2007)

Japan's health minister has pledged to address the shortage of doctors in the country after a woman in labour was turned away by eight hospitals

World facing 'arsenic timebomb' (30 August 2007)

About 140 million people, mainly in developing countries, are being poisoned by arsenic in their drinking water, researchers believe.

Offering hope to Afghan addicts (28 August 2007)

On a hot summer's night in Pakistan, 33-year-old Rahima was having a fight with her husband in a refugee camp. It came to an end when Rahima's husband forced her to consume a small opium capsule.

'Junk sleep damaging' teen health (27 August 2007)

Too many teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep and by falling asleep with electrical gadgets on, researchers say.

Braiding 'can lead to hair loss' (24 August 2007)
Braiding like Beckham's could cause permanent hair damage

Popular modern hairstyles which tightly braid the hair at the scalp can lead to permanent bald patches, say experts.

Kids often get meds off-label for sleep issues (August 23, 2007)
Researchers point out lack of FDA-approved drugs for children’s insomnia

NEW YORK - Doctors commonly prescribe drugs to children and teens with sleep difficulties that are not approved for use by patients in these age groups, a new study shows.

Eighty-one percent of physician visits for sleep problems by children and teens ended in a prescription for some type of medication, most commonly a drowsiness-promoting antihistamine or a sedative.......

FDA warns about cold medicines for babies (August 16, 2007)
Children under age 2 should not be given over-the-counter drugs

WASHINGTON - The government is warning parents not to give cough and cold medicines to children under 2 without a doctor’s order, part of an overall review of the products’ safety and effectiveness for youngsters.

Diabetes problems 'vitamin link' (7 August, 2007)

A simple vitamin deficiency may be the cause of many of the side effects of diabetes, a study suggests.

Researchers found people with the disease expelled thiamine - vitamin B1 - from their bodies at 15 times the normal rate in a study of 94 people.

Obese moms linked to birth defects (August 7, 2007)

Chicago - Women who are obese before pregnancy face a higher risk of having babies with a variety of birth defects than women with a healthy weight, a new study suggests.

Should preschools teach all work and no play? (August 6, 2007)
Parents want to prepare kids, but experts say drills can kill love of learning

...In 1999, Marcon published a study in the journal Developmental Psychology that looked at 721 4-year-olds selected from three different preschool models: play based, academic (adult directed) and middle of the road (programs that did not follow either philosophy). Marcon followed the children’s language, self-help, social, motor and adaptive development along with basic skills.

“What we found in our research then and in ongoing studies is that children who were in a [play-based] preschool program showed stronger academic performance in all subject areas measured compared to children who had been in more academically focused or more middle-of-the-road programs,” says Marcon.

Birth rate crisis hits Central Europe (4 August 2007)

Population levels across many parts of the developed world are declining, but this is particularly noticeable in former Eastern Bloc states where the number of children being born has plummeted within a generation.

The exception is Slovakia, where a bundle arrives every day with a postmark from the 1970s. Former Czechoslovak leader Gustav Husak keeps sending gifts.

Senate passes child health bill (3 August 2007)

The US Senate has passed legislation that would increase tobacco taxes to pay for an expanded children's healthcare insurance programme.

The Senate voted by 68-31 to provide an extra $35bn (£17bn) to insure some 10 million children.

The House of Representatives has already passed its own version.

President George Bush opposes the move, arguing that it takes the programme beyond its original purpose of insuring children in low-income families.

All that girl talk could be bad for teens (July 25, 2007)

NEW YORK - Girls who discuss their problems extensively with friends may be at increased risk of developing depression and anxiety symptoms, a new study suggests.

‘Baby hatch’ highlights Japan adoption fears (9 July 2007)

TOKYO - When a newborn baby girl was left in Japan’s controversial “baby hatch” last week, the child’s life may have been saved, but her chances of finding new parents were slim due to a cultural aversion to adoption in Japan.

The baby is one of four tots — one of them three-years-old — so far left at the “stork’s cradle” baby hatch at the Catholic-run Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto, southern Japan.

First-borns have higher IQ scores (22 June 2007)

The child raised as the eldest in a family is likely to have a higher IQ than his or her siblings, work reveals.

A Norwegian team found first born children and those who had lost elder siblings and had hence become the eldest, scored higher on intelligence.

The link, reported in Science, was found by looking at more than 250,000 male Norwegian conscripts.

Protein mutations link to autism (21 June 2007)

Scientists have discovered how mutations in two key proteins may lead to autism.

They have shown one protein increases the excitability of nerve cells, while the other inhibits cell activity.

The University of Texas team found that in normal circumstances the proteins balance each other out.

But the study, published in Neuron, suggests that in people with autism the balance between the proteins is knocked out of kilter.

Low-carb diet 'cancer risk' claim (18 June 2007)

Low-carbohydrate diets may increase the risk of people suffering bowel cancer, scientists have claimed.

Researchers from Aberdeen's Rowett Research Institute believe there is a link between eating less carbohydrate and reducing cancer-fighting bacteria.

....The researchers said they had discovered a link between consuming carbohydrate and the production of a fatty acid in the gut that protects against colorectal cancer.

Birth Surge "Stretches Midwives" (12 June 2007)

"The Tories say the government's failure to anticipate a big rise in the birth rate in England has left midwives under intense pressure.

They argue this could derail ministers' commitment to offering all women a choice of where to give birth by 2009.

But ministers dismissed the claim as 'scaremongering'."

HFCS: From the Lips to the Hips? (July 26, 2004)

Check the label on the container of your favorite soft drink, and, unless it’s the diet variety, you’re likely to find high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) listed as a primary ingredient after water....

....Dueling headlines about HFCS have appeared in the media recently as a result of research studies suggesting possible links between the increasing consumption of this sweetener and the growing incidence of obesity and diabetes.

Perinatal Support Services: pregnancydiet@mindspring.com