Community Magazine December 2009

TYLENOL LINKED TOASTHMA Acetaminophen, a common pain reliever and the active ingredient in Tylenol, has been found to be linked to a higher risk of asthma and wheezing in children. Following a review of 19 previous clinical trials that examined the relationship between pain relievers and asthma, researchers in Vancouver, Canada have found a higher risk of asthma in children who used acetaminophen in the year before being diagnosed with asthma, or in their first year of life. They also found a slight increase in the risk of asthma and wheezing with a mother’s use of acetaminophen during pregnancy. Researchers suggest that the pain reliever acts on an enzyme that is involved in the inflammatory response of asthma. ANTIBIOTICSMAY PREVENT URINARY INFECTIONS Research has found that antibiotics taken preventatively for children who are predisposed to recurrent urinary tract infections are moderately useful in preventing future infections. Only 13 percent of children who were given antibiotics developed urinary tract infections (UTIs), compared to 19 percent of the children on a placebo. Very young children, those with severe infections and those with recurrent infections, may especially benefit from preventative medication. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. About 2 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls will have at least one UTI by the age of seven. UTIs can be serious, with as many as 5 percent of patients developing kidney damage. The researchers suggest that the modest reduction in UTIs with preventive antibiotics outweighs the potential risks, such as the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. BABIES LEARN ACCENTSWHILE STILL INWOMB A study of crying French and German babies, aged three to five days old, has found that the infants learned their parents’ accents even before birth. The French newborns cried with a rising “accent” while the German babies’ cries had a falling inflection. The research, published in the journal Current Biology, suggests that babies attempt to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them, and unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language they hear. Previous research has found that fetuses could memorize sounds from the outside world in the last three months of pregnancy, and were sensitive to melody in both music and human voices. The current research found that not only are babies capable of producing different crying melodies, but they prefer to produce those melodies that are typical for the language they heard in the womb. Newborns are motivated to imitate their mother’s behavior to attract her and foster bonding. TEENAGE OBESITY ANDMULTIPLE SCLEROSIS Obesity during the teenage years could double the risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Upon the completion of a study that examined 238,000 women over 40 years, researchers found that those who were obese at age 18 had twice the risk of developing MS compared to women who were slimmer. However, body size during childhood or adulthood was not found to be associated with MS risk. The research was reported in the journal Neurology. MS is caused by the loss of nerve fibers and their protective myelin sheath in the brain and spinal cord, which causes neurological damage. The study showed that those labeled as obese at age 18 had more than twice the risk of developing MS. There was also a smaller increased risk in those who were classed as overweight, and the results were the same after accounting for smoking and activity levels. The researchers noted the findings of previous studies that showed a link between high levels of vitamin D and a reduced risk of MS. Obesity is associated with low vitamin D levels, and this may account for the link between obesity and MS Additionally, fatty tissue produces substances that affect the immune system, which may also increase the risk of developing MS. BRONCHIOLITIS – AIR POLLUTIONCONNECTION Air pollution from traffic, wood smoke and industrial emissions have been linked with infant bronchiolitis. Researchers analyzed nearly 12,000 diagnoses of infant bronchiolitis and examined each child’s ambient pollution exposure based on nearby air monitoring stations. Infants who lived within 50 meters of a highway had a six percent increased risk of bronchiolitis, and those who lived in a higher wood smoke exposure area had an increased risk of eight percent. Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of infant hospitalization during the first year of life. The study appears in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. • Health 88 Community magazine