Heena Sharma Blog

https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/poor-nutrition-during-pregnancy-may-advance-menopause-118120600505_1.html?utm_source=SEO&utm_medium=PB While it is known that inadequate nutrition during foetal development can cause diabetes and heart disease, a new study warns that it could also lead to early menopause at age younger than 45. Prenatal malnutrition was also associated with a higher risk of premature ovarian failure. Natural menopause is a milestone of ovarian aging that results in the end of a woman's reproductive years. Conversely, an early menopause is associated with increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, depression, and memory changes and changes in vaginal and sexual health, according to researchers. "The findings showed that food deprivation during early foetal life affects how long the future ovaries function," said Joann Pinkerton, executive director from the North Am...

Babies have delicate skin, which is sensitive to humidity and changes in the weather. Cold weather affects the skin even further by causing rashes, redness and itching. Most rashes are harmless and go away on their own. However, in some situations, the skin condition can become chronic and difficult to manage. Atopic dermatitis, also called atopic eczema, is one such skin condition that affects one in five children globally. Atopic dermatitis is long-lasting (chronic) and tends to flare periodically. Often, it appears in infants in the first year of birth and progresses till five years of age and, at times, even beyond. It leads to inflamed and itchy skin, resulting in patches of red and dry skin. The condition may worsen during colder months. Often, as the child enters teenage, the skin condition persists, affecting daily activities. This leads to a lack of self-confidence, thus impacting the child's overall personality development. Read More Business Standard

According to a recent study, pregnant women with higher intake of the Mediterranean diet have 32 per cent lower risk of having children with an accelerated growth pattern, as compared to offspring of women that did not follow such diet. The Mediterranean diet is characterised by a high content of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes and nuts. This healthy diet pattern has earlier been associated with lower obesity and cardiometabolic risk in adults. This study, conducted at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, aimed at evaluating the association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy and growth patterns and cardiometabolic risk in early infancy. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Pediatrics. It was performed with data of over 2,700 pregnant women, who filled in a questionnaire on dietary intake in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. In addition, the diet, weight and height of their offspring were followed-u...

Consuming curcumin -- the active compound in turmeric -- may improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure, a study claims. Curcumin has been used as a traditional Asian medicine for centuries, primarily to treat gastrointestinal ailments and skin wounds, said researchers from the University of Nebraska in the US. Studies increasingly suggest that the compound may prevent or limit muscle wasting associated with a number of health conditions, including heart failure, they said. People with heart failure have a reduced function of the left ventricle -- the chamber of the heart that pumps blood out to the rest of the body -- called reduced ejection fraction. A decreased ability to exercise or exercise intolerance is another significant characteristic of heart failure, according to the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. The researchers theorised that a reduction in the normal signalling of Nrf2, a protein that regulates the expression ...

Sleep length can be associated with an increased risk of fractures, a recent study has suggested. According to the findings of the research, compared with women who slept seven to eight hours each night, women who slept for 5 hours or 10 hours had about 25 per cent increased odds of experiencing recurrent falls. Short sleep was associated with an increased risk of all fractures , and upper limb, lower limb, and central body fractures, but not with an increased risk of hip fractures. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. The analysis included 157,306 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative, with an average follow-up time of 7.6 years for falls and 12.0 years for fractures. The annualized rate of recurrent fall events was 10.6 percent among women reporting 5 hours of sleep per night, 7.0 percent among women sleeping seven to eight hours per night, and 11.8 percent among women sleeping 10 hours per night. ...

In a first, an oral immunotherapy drug derived from peanut protein could help build tolerance and eliminate potentially deadly reactions in children and adolescents with severe peanut allergies. The study showed that controlled ingestion of the medication, called AR101, derived from peanut protein, could build tolerance as well as reduce severe allergy symptoms . "Almost 6 million American children are currently living with a life-threatening food allergy," said Christina Ciaccio, Associate Professor from the University of Chicago in the US. "Every three minutes a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room, contributing to the total annual cost of caring for children with food allergy to nearly $25 billion. Despite this, not a single treatment for food allergy has been approved by the FDA," she said. However, the drug "is not a quick fix, and it doesn't mean people with peanut allergy will be able to eat peanuts when...

Turns out, women who are naturally early risers were found to have a lower risk of developing breast cancer . According to a study, one in 100 women who considered themselves morning people developed breast cancer , compared with two in every 100 women who called themselves evening people. Cancer risks associated with a person's body clock and sleep patterns have been reported in previous researches as well as any genetic factors underlying this. Self-reported preferences for mornings or evenings (by their own definition of that preference) were recorded in more than 180,000 women, led by Dr. Rebecca Richmond, a researcher. The team of researchers also analysed genetic variants linked to whether someone is a morning or night person in more than 220,000 women to find out if these could help provide a causal link to breast cancer. Read Complete Article Business Standard

A recent study found that a wide range of both IV thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) rates in ischemic stroke patients, who smoke marijuana , indicates the need for further improvement of access to acute recanalization therapies in many regions. Researchers at the University of Toronto presented the results of a study evaluating the use of the drug rivaroxaban versus acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to prevent strokes in patients with an enlarged left atrium of the heart. The results showed some potential benefit from rivaroxaban but caution was urged. "We are seeing a very intriguing signal here, and it has biological plausibility, but it is going to require independent validation before making any changes to practice recommendations," said researcher Dr. Gladstone. The statistics also showed a rise in stroke incidence among marijuana users while overall stroke prevalence remained stable. A five-year study of hospital statistics from the Unit...

According to a recent study, a mother's weight during early pregnancy may affect how well her baby is able to self-regulate during its first months and years of life. The research suggested that there is a one in five chance that overweight or obese women will have babies who suffer from multiple regulatory problems, and these babies may also show a delay in some developmental milestones when they reach childhood. Previous research has found that one in every five infants struggles to self-regulate in the first year of life. This means that these babies may cry excessively, have problems feeding or difficulties falling asleep unless soothed by a caregiver. As they grow older, such children often show behavioural and neurodevelopmental problems such as hyperactivity or difficulties concentrating, as well as having poorer muscle function. Some have lower IQs or are placed on the autism spectrum. Read Complete Article Business Standard

Amidst the hectic schedule of day-to-day life, we often neglect common digestive problems such as acidity. Considering these digestive problems to be minor, we either ignore or tend to treat them by ourselves. Acidity can cause heartburn -- a burning sensation in the chest, stomach and throat. However, frequent episodes of heartburn (two or more times a week) may be associated with other severe problems like Gastro esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which calls for medical intervention. A sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits such as irregular meals, skipping meals and consuming spicy, oily and fast-food can cause acidity. Along with this, obesity, stress, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and prolonged use of certain medications such as pain killers or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can lead to other digestive ailments. Read Complete Article Business Standard

As per a new study, pregnant women who have suffered from depression or bipolar disorder recognise baby faces and how babies laugh or cry differently. This happens even if they are not currently experiencing depressive or manic symptoms, although the authors stresses that research would be needed to confirm any long-term effects. Researchers compared 22 pregnant women, currently well but with a history of depression, and seven with bipolar disorder who were also currently well, against 28 healthy pregnant women. They also tested 18 non-pregnant women, as controls. Between the 27th and 39th weeks of pregnancy , all the women were tested for how they responded to a series of happy or sad faces, and to laughter and crying, of both babies and adults. Specifically, the women were asked to rate how happy or distressed the infants were based on infants' facial and vocal displays of emotion. They were also asked to identify adult facial expressions of emotion across varyi...

Turns out, drinking a glass of wine daily for health reasons may not be so healthy after all. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that consuming one to two drinks four or more times per week increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent, compared with drinking three times a week or less. First author Sarah M. Hartz said, "It used to seem like having one or two drinks per day was no big deal, and there even have been some studies suggesting it can improve health. But now we know that even the lightest daily drinkers have an increased mortality risk." Although some earlier studies have linked light drinking to improvements in cardiovascular health, Hartz said the new study shows that those potential gains are outweighed by other risks. Her team evaluated heart disease risk and cancer risk and found that although in some cases, drinking alcohol may reduce risk of heart-related problems, daily drinking increased ca...

A new study has found that prior to the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D), women with versus without prediabetes experience significantly have larger adverse differences in their cardio metabolic health than men. However, the mechanisms responsible for these sex differences remain a mystery. The research, conducted by the Maastricht University Medical Centre, aimed to evaluate sex-related differences in cardiovascular risk factor levels, both before and after the onset of T2D. T2D is known to reduce or even reverse the protective effect of being female on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The metabolic changes that eventually lead to T2D can precede the development of hyperglycemia (caused by poorly controlled blood glucose levels) by years or even decades. Despite this, there has been a little investigation into whether women suffer a relatively worse cardiometabolic risk profile before developing the disease. Read Complete Article Business Standard

Older adults can prevent their risk of strokes by taking a daily stroll for just 35 minutes a day or four hours a week, say researchers. Indulging in moderate physical activity, such as swimming, brisk walking, or running two to three hours a week may also reduce the severity of strokes than people who are physically inactive. "Stroke is a major cause of serious disability, so finding ways to prevent stroke or reduce the disability caused by stroke are important," said Katharina S. Sunnerhagen, from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Read Complete Article Article Source >> Business Standard

Turns out, a high gluten intake by mothers during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of their child developing type 1 diabetes. Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley and is suggested to affect the development of type 1 diabetes . In animal studies, a gluten-free diet during pregnancy almost completely prevented type 1 diabetes in offspring. To better understand the nature of this association, researchers set out to examine whether gluten intake during pregnancy is associated with subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes in children. Read Complete Article Article Source >> Business Standard

Apart from building healthy bones, vitamin D also may reduce cancer risk as well as breast cancer mortality, especially in women with a lower body mass index. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women worldwide and is the leading cause of death from cancer in women. Reproductive risk factors such as early onset of puberty, late menopause, later age at first pregnancy, never having been pregnant, obesity, and a family history have all been shown to be associated with breast cancer development. The role of vitamin D concentration in the development of breast cancer, however, continues to be debated. Researchers involved in the study concluded that postmenopausal women had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency at the time of their breast cancer diagnoses, associated with higher rates of obesity than women of the same age group without cancer. Read Complete Article  

A recent study has found that stroke survivors struggle to openly discuss sexuality , while health professionals rarely address the topic during rehabilitation. According to the research, Stroke survivors and their partners are not adequately supported to deal with changes to their relationships, self-identity, gender roles, and intimacy following a stroke. The finding is supported by data stating that as few as 15 percent of patients receive information on intimate relations post-stroke, despite clinical guideline recommendations. Dr Margaret McGrath, lead author of the study said, "Issues around post-stroke sexuality and where to seek support are rarely discussed with stroke survivors or their loved ones despite numerous interactions with medical, rehabilitation and counselling staff." " Sexuality and disability is viewed as a taboo topic so stroke survivors don't know how to talk about it and health professionals don't ask the questions," M...

Women undergoing menopause face serious health concerns including osteoporosis, decreased physical activity and weight gain.In a new animal study, researchers from the University of Missouri now have discovered that soy protein found in food might Health News : Women undergoing menopause face serious health concerns including osteoporosis, decreased physical activity and weight gain. In a new animal study, researchers from the University of Missouri now have discovered that soy protein found in food might counter the negative effects of menopause on bone and metabolic health. Moreover, the researchers believe that soy protein might also have positive impacts on bone strength for women who have not yet reached menopause. Professor of nutrition and exercise physiology, Pamela Hinton said, "The findings suggest that all women might see improved bone strength by adding some soy-based whole foods, such as tofu and soy milk, to their diet." Hinton along ...