Dogs ' higher Lyme disease risk "

25. January 2012 stand 00: 45 GMT by Michelle Roberts Health Reporter, BBC News ticks Lyme disease can transfer to humans

Ticks that can transmit Lyme disease may be more common in the United Kingdom as, say researchers who have found them refuge like many dogs.

Experts have suspected since some a growing problem with these little pests - rates of the disease in recent years was cringing have time that the UK has.

In the year 2010 was 953 reported cases in England and Wales.

Now, after I is samples to more than 3,500 dogs Bristol University experts suspect the problem even bigger.

14.9% Had the 3.534 pet dogs, veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom between March and October 2009 ticks checks.

"Read the main story

without significantly better monitoring and routine diagnostic tests, Lyme disease is only expected to be more often become"

End quote believe Smith researchers lead away, 2.3% turned out to be infected.

The expected prevalence of infected ticks on dogs is 0.5% or 481 infected ticks per 100,000 dogs.

This suggests that the prevalence of this Borrelia infection in the population much higher is than previously thought, British tick Immunology compare the researchers report in the journal, microbiology and infectious diseases.

Faith Smith, who led the investigation, said: "Lyme disease seems a fast-growing problem in the United Kingdom with major health and economic impact of the loss of working time and potential decline in tourism to tick hotspots."

"Without significantly better monitoring and routine diagnostic tests Lyme disease will become only likely to frequent."

"In particular future warmer winters may also be about the ticks are active seasonal while growing wild reservoir host will enable population, such as deer, extended to expand the tick population."

Easy to see

A bite by an infected tick takes between two and four weeks to show, and who have been bitten for a "Bulls Eye" type red rash appear round should look to the bite.

You may encounter, also flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and muscle and joint pain.

Left untreated, Lyme disease on the brain, heart and joints and extreme nerve damage, paralysis and blindness can result.

Ticks are very small — about the size of a poppy - and can easily be overlooked.

Found the most ticks do not wear, which is to be immediately removing the infection, but they.

You can be removed with tweezers or a hook, pulling way gently up from the skin cross.

People who develop a rash or other symptoms after a tick bite should consult their GP.

A spokesperson of health protection agency said that it was important, that people risks aware of and remain "Tick aware".

"they are out there in forest areas." She said, it's best to keep, as far as possible avoid hiking trails and long grass if you walk and to cover up the skin.

Also brushes to remove, clothing and pet coats before returning to the House in a non-attached ticks which later a feed can search.

Source BBC

GOOGLE NEWS | BBC NEWS | NY DAILY NEWS | TRAFFIC NEWS | TECH NEWS

Read More

Older first-time moms not at higher depression risk

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Amy Norton

NEW YORK | Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:15pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who have their first baby at an older age aren't at greater risk of postpartum depression, according to a new report that contradicts earlier concerns.

In a study of more than 500 first-time mothers, Australian researchers found that moms age 37 or older were no more likely to get postpartum depression than their younger counterparts -- whether they conceived naturally or had infertility treatment.

Overall, eight percent of the women had major depression symptoms four months after giving birth. That's at the lower end of what's seen among new mothers in general, the researchers say.

And they found no evidence that age itself affected a woman's risk of developing postpartum depression.

The idea that older first-time mothers might face a higher depression risk has been largely based on speculation and "popular culture anecdote," according to study leader Catherine A. McMahon, an associate professor of psychology at Macquarie University in Australia.

"Older mothers are frequently discussed in the media," McMahon noted in an email. "There are a lot of myths, and limited empirical data."

There's been some speculation, for instance, that older mothers might have a tougher time adjusting to motherhood -- after, presumably, being in the workforce for a long time. Or they might be more "set in their ways" than younger women, and have more difficulty dealing with the lifestyle changes that a baby brings.

But, McMahon said, "there is no research evidence to support these speculations."

On the other hand, it is known that older mothers have a higher risk of pregnancy complications, like high blood pressure and diabetes. And pregnancy complications, in turn, have been linked to postpartum depression risk.

For their study, reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility, McMahon's team followed 266 women who had conceived naturally and 275 who'd undergone fertility treatment. All of the women answered questionnaires during their third trimester, and had a diagnostic interview for depression when their babies were four months old.

Overall, 180 women were age 37 or older when they gave birth. And they were no more likely to develop postpartum depression than younger women were, the study found.

"The findings suggest that older first-time mothers are not at greater risk of postpartum depression, at least in the first four months after birth," McMahon said.

That, she added, highlights the importance of not "labeling" older moms as high-risk for depression -- something that, itself, could stress out a new mother.

Still, McMahon said that there are questions for future studies. One is whether going through menopause while caring for a young child presents challenges.

"There is considerable evidence that vulnerability to depression is greatest in mid-life for women," McMahon noted.

She said it would also be interesting to see how older mothers fare when they go back to work, since they may be more "emotionally committed" to their careers compared with younger mothers.

McMahon also pointed out that this study looked only at depression among women who successfully had a baby. She said there's a need for studies that look at the psychological well-being of women who put off having a baby, and then are unable to conceive.

SOURCE: bit.ly/vfffcx Fertility and Sterility, online September 30, 2011.

New Automobile

Health Management

Read More

Moms who lose a baby face higher stillbirth risk

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A woman holds her stomach at the last stages of her pregnancy in Bordeaux April 28, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Regis Duvignau

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:19pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents who've suffered the death of an infant may have a higher-than-normal risk of stillbirth in the next pregnancy, a new study suggests.

Stillbirth refers to the death of a fetus after the 20th week of pregnancy. It's known that, as a group, women with a history of stillbirth have a higher-than-average risk of suffering another.

But the new study suggests that the death of a baby in the first year of life also points to an increased risk of stillbirth in the next pregnancy.

Researchers found that among more than 320,000 women, the rate of stillbirth during a second pregnancy was just over four per 1,000 births. But the risk was nearly three-fold higher for women who'd lost their first baby before the child's first birthday, versus mothers whose first baby survived.

It's not entirely clear why the relationship exists. But the researchers say the findings suggest that women who've lost a baby should be counseled before their next pregnancy.

"What we're trying to do is, look at women's history and see if we can identify mothers who are likely to be at higher risk of stillbirth," said Dr. Hamisu Salihu, a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa who worked on the study.

The precise cause of a woman's stillbirth is often unknown. In fact, that's true in about 50 percent to 60 percent of cases, Salihu told Reuters Health.

But there are certain risk factors linked to stillbirth that are changeable. Obesity and smoking are two, Salihu noted.

In addition, certain health conditions in the mother -- like high blood pressure or diabetes that arise before or during pregnancy -- are tied to stillbirth (because they can lead to problems with the placenta or affect the growth of the fetus).

So Salihu suggested that couples who've lost a baby visit with their doctor before their next pregnancy to talk about any modifiable risk factors for pregnancy complications. During pregnancy, a woman may need to make more-frequent prenatal care visits to monitor for problems, depending on her situation.

"That has to be decided on a case-by-case basis," Salihu said.

The findings, published in the obstetrics journal BJOG, are based on medical records from 320,350 Missouri women who had their first and second pregnancies between 1989 and 2005.

Of those women, 2,483 -- about eight percent -- lost their first baby before the child's first birthday. And they had a three-fold greater risk of having a stillbirth with their next pregnancy compared with women whose first baby survived.

Black women had a particularly elevated risk: Those who'd suffered an infant death were more than four times more likely to have a stillbirth than black women whose first baby survived.

That finding is in line with past research showing that African-American women face a higher stillbirth risk than white women do.

It's not clear from the study why infant deaths were linked to stillbirth risk in the next pregnancy. But Salihu said it's possible that the same underlying factors that contributed to the first baby's death -- whether genetic or environmental, like poor growth due to smoking -- also contributed to fetal death in the second pregnancy.

In support of that idea, the researchers found that the death of a newborn -- versus an older baby -- was more strongly linked to stillbirth risk in the next pregnancy.

The overall stillbirth rate in the study was 0.4 percent. So even with a relatively increased risk, most couples who've lost a baby would not have a stillbirth next time.

"Couples should not give up," Salihu said. What they should do, he added, is get "preconception" counseling to try to spot any known risk factors for stillbirth.

"Some of those risk factors are modifiable," Salihu said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/pjPFKf BJOG, online September 21, 2011.

New Automobile

Health Management

Read More

Moms who lose a baby face higher stillbirth risk

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A woman holds her stomach at the last stages of her pregnancy in Bordeaux April 28, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Regis Duvignau

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:19pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents who've suffered the death of an infant may have a higher-than-normal risk of stillbirth in the next pregnancy, a new study suggests.

Stillbirth refers to the death of a fetus after the 20th week of pregnancy. It's known that, as a group, women with a history of stillbirth have a higher-than-average risk of suffering another.

But the new study suggests that the death of a baby in the first year of life also points to an increased risk of stillbirth in the next pregnancy.

Researchers found that among more than 320,000 women, the rate of stillbirth during a second pregnancy was just over four per 1,000 births. But the risk was nearly three-fold higher for women who'd lost their first baby before the child's first birthday, versus mothers whose first baby survived.

It's not entirely clear why the relationship exists. But the researchers say the findings suggest that women who've lost a baby should be counseled before their next pregnancy.

"What we're trying to do is, look at women's history and see if we can identify mothers who are likely to be at higher risk of stillbirth," said Dr. Hamisu Salihu, a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa who worked on the study.

The precise cause of a woman's stillbirth is often unknown. In fact, that's true in about 50 percent to 60 percent of cases, Salihu told Reuters Health.

But there are certain risk factors linked to stillbirth that are changeable. Obesity and smoking are two, Salihu noted.

In addition, certain health conditions in the mother -- like high blood pressure or diabetes that arise before or during pregnancy -- are tied to stillbirth (because they can lead to problems with the placenta or affect the growth of the fetus).

So Salihu suggested that couples who've lost a baby visit with their doctor before their next pregnancy to talk about any modifiable risk factors for pregnancy complications. During pregnancy, a woman may need to make more-frequent prenatal care visits to monitor for problems, depending on her situation.

"That has to be decided on a case-by-case basis," Salihu said.

The findings, published in the obstetrics journal BJOG, are based on medical records from 320,350 Missouri women who had their first and second pregnancies between 1989 and 2005.

Of those women, 2,483 -- about eight percent -- lost their first baby before the child's first birthday. And they had a three-fold greater risk of having a stillbirth with their next pregnancy compared with women whose first baby survived.

Black women had a particularly elevated risk: Those who'd suffered an infant death were more than four times more likely to have a stillbirth than black women whose first baby survived.

That finding is in line with past research showing that African-American women face a higher stillbirth risk than white women do.

It's not clear from the study why infant deaths were linked to stillbirth risk in the next pregnancy. But Salihu said it's possible that the same underlying factors that contributed to the first baby's death -- whether genetic or environmental, like poor growth due to smoking -- also contributed to fetal death in the second pregnancy.

In support of that idea, the researchers found that the death of a newborn -- versus an older baby -- was more strongly linked to stillbirth risk in the next pregnancy.

The overall stillbirth rate in the study was 0.4 percent. So even with a relatively increased risk, most couples who've lost a baby would not have a stillbirth next time.

"Couples should not give up," Salihu said. What they should do, he added, is get "preconception" counseling to try to spot any known risk factors for stillbirth.

"Some of those risk factors are modifiable," Salihu said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/pjPFKf BJOG, online September 21, 2011.

New Automobile

Health Management

Read More