Thursday, February 11, 2010

Today's Healthtips Plus Free Quaker True Delights Healthy Snack Bar

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Mother's advanced age linked to autism

DAVIS, Calif. (UPI) -- An older mother is at a significantly elevated risk of having a child with autism, regardless of the father's age, U.S. officials have found.

Lead author Janie Shelton, a doctoral student in the University of California, Davis, and colleagues obtained records for all births in California from Jan. 1, 1990 to Dec. 31, 1999.

Advanced parental age is a known risk factor for having a child with autism. However, previous research has shown contradictory results regarding whether it is the mother, the father or both who contribute the increased risk. One study reported that fathers age 40 and older were six times more likely than fathers under age 30 to have a child with autism.

"This study challenges a current theory in autism epidemiology that identifies the father's age as a key factor in increasing the risk of having a child with autism," Shelton said in a statement.

"It shows that while maternal age consistently increases the risk of autism, the father's age only contributes an increased risk when the father is older and the mother is under age 30. Among mothers age 30 and older, increases in the father's age do not appear to further increase the risk of autism."

The study, published in the journal Autism Research, found a 40-year-old woman's risk of having a child later diagnosed with autism was 50 percent greater than that of a woman between age 25-29.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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NYC urges some to get mumps vaccine

NEW YORK (UPI) -- New York City health officials are encouraging young adults, especially males, in the Jewish communities in Brooklyn to get vaccinated for mumps.

As of Feb. 8, the city health department had confirmed 909 cases of mumps and was investigating 344 more. Most cases have occurred in males and an increasing number have been in adults ages 18-30. Complications from mumps can include viral meningitis, hearing loss and reproductive problems for men.

"Vaccination against mumps is important for your health, your family's health and your community's health," Dr. Jane R. Zucker, assistant commissioner for immunization, said in a statement.

"Mumps can lead to serious complications in people who are not vaccinated, especially adults. If you have not been vaccinated against the mumps, or do not remember if you have received the protective vaccine, get vaccinated."

Children should receive a measles-mumps-rubella vaccine on or after their first birthday, followed by a second dose at 4-6 years of age.

Anyone who has received two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is much less likely to develop mumps, but many adults do not remember their vaccination history and do not have records.

Adults who are unsure of their vaccination history should get vaccinated, health officials advise.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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People feeling blue, shun the new

SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- People feeling chipper may decide to check out the new restaurant across town, but people feeling blue may turn to meatloaf at home, U.S. researchers say.

Study leader Piotr Winkielman of the University of California, San Diego, and Marieke de Vries of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, find a negative mood imparts a warm glow to the familiar, but happiness makes novelty attractive.

They examined the idea by presenting participants with random dot patterns resembling constellations in the sky and made these familiar through exposure. The researchers put some of the participants in a good mood and others in a bad mood -- by asking them to recall joyous or sad events in their lives.

Then they measured participants' emotional and memory responses to the dot patterns with ratings and, critically, with physiological measures -- skin conductors to assess sweat and facial electrodes to detect incipient frowns and smiles.

The findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, show why surgeon's office, which people visit rarely and are often in stressful circumstances should probably stay away from edgy decor and opt for the comfy and familiar.

"The research helps us understand, too, why incumbent politicians seeking re-election fuel a negative, apprehensive mood and then offer up such tried-and-true symbols as the flag and apple pie," Winkielman said.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Early stress may predict heart disease

AUGUSTA, Ga. (UPI) -- Early life stress -- such as separation from mothers -- may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, U.S. researchers report.

Dr. Jennifer Pollock of the Medical College of Georgia said the studies involved a proven model of chronic behavioral stress -- separating rat pups from their mother three hours daily for two weeks. The rat pups showed no long-term impact on key indicators of cardiovascular disease such as increased blood pressure, heart rate or inflammation in blood vessel walls.

However, when the rats reached adulthood, an infusion of the hormone angiotensin II resulted in rapid and dramatic increases in all key indicators in animals that experienced early life stress. Stress activates the renin-angiotensin system, which produces angiotensin II and is a major regulator of blood vessel growth and inflammation -- both heavily implicated in heart disease.

"They cannot adapt to stress as well as a normal animal does," Pollock said in a statement. For example, blood pressure was nearly twice as high in the early-stress animals.

"We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," Pollock said in a statement.

The study is published online in Hypertension.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Valentine Box Ideas for Kids

Help your kid prepare for Valentine's Day at school -- make a Valentine box to hold cards from their fellow students. You can find this fun craft, as well as more decorating ideas, in the ArcaMax Valentine's Day feature.

This special section also includes gift ideas, history and trivia, and books to read and buy online.

Visit the Valentine's Day feature.

-- From the ArcaMax editors

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