Eating fish boosts heart health in young women

Women of childbearing age can reduce their risk of heart problems by regularly eating fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids, said a Danish study out Monday.

The study is the first to examine younger women, age 15-49, and determine whether fish in their diet has a real impact on their current likelihood of heart problems, instead of their longevity.

For instance, "those who rarely or never ate fish had 50 percent more cardiovascular problems over eight years than those who ate fish regularly," the research said.

Women who rarely or never ate fish faced a 90 percent higher risk of heart problems than those who ate fish weekly.

When researchers looked at hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease in three different assessments over a 30 week period, they found it was three times higher among women who did not eat fish.

The findings, published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, are based on a Danish study of 49,000 women with a median age of 30 that spanned eight years.

Women were interviewed by phone about their family history, lifestyle and fish consumption, and were tracked over the next eight years.

"We saw a strong association with cardiovascular disease in the women who were still in their late 30s," said Marin Strom, lead researcher and post doctoral fellow at the Centre for Fetal Programming at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"The biggest challenge in getting health messages like this across to younger populations is that usually the benefits may not be evident for 30 or 40 years, but our study shows this is not the case."

Women most commonly reported eating cod, salmon, herring, and mackerel, all of which are high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, believed to protect against heart and vascular disease.

The study focused exclusively on dietary intake of fish, not supplements with fish oil.

"Women who eat fish should find the results encouraging, but it is important to emphasize that to obtain the greatest benefit from fish and fish oils, women should follow the dietary recommendations to eat fish as a main meal at least twice a week," said Strom.

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Posted in: HEALTH

Study Finds How Child Abuse Changes the Brain

Children exposed to family violence show the same pattern of activity in their brains as soldiers exposed to combat, scientists said on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Children exposed to family violence show the same pattern of activity in their brains as soldiers exposed to combat, scientists said on Monday.

In a study in the journal Current Biology, researchers used brain scans to explore the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children's emotional development and found that exposure to it was linked to increased activity in two brain areas when children were shown pictures of angry faces.

Previous studies that scanned the brains of soldiers exposed to violent combat situations showed the same pattern of heightened activity in these two brain areas—the anterior insula and the amygdala—which experts say are associated with detecting potential threats.

This suggests that both maltreated children and soldiers may have adapted to become "hyper-aware" of danger in their environment, the researchers said.

"Enhanced reactivity to a...threat cue such as anger may represent an adaptive response for these children in the short term, helping keep them out of danger," said Eamon McCrory of Britain's University College London, who led the study.

But he added that such responses may also be underlying neurobiological risk factor which increases the children's susceptibility to later mental illness like depression.

Depression is already a major cause of mortality, disability and economic burden worldwide and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, it will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages.

Childhood maltreatment is known to be one of the most potent environmental risk factors linked to later mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression.

A study published in August found that found that people who suffered maltreatment as children were twice as likely as those who had normal childhoods to develop persistent and recurrent depression, and less likely to respond well or quickly to treatment for their mental illness.

McCrory said still relatively little is known about how such early adversity "gets under the skin and increases a child's later vulnerability, even into adulthood."

In the study, 43 children had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty of the children who were known to have been exposed to violence at home were compared with 23 who had not experienced family violence.

The average age of the maltreated children was 12 years and they had all been referred to local social services in London.When the children were in the scanner they were shown pictures of male and female faces showing sad, calm or angry expressions. The researchers found that those who had been exposed to violence showed increased brain activity in the anterior insula and amygdala in response to the angry faces.

"We are only now beginning to understand how child abuse influences functioning of the brain's emotional systems," McCrory said. "This research...provides our first clues as to how regions in the child's brain may adapt to early experiences of abuse."

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Posted in: HEALTH

Specific Genes Now Linked to ADHD

Four variants in brain pathways have provided a link between ADHD and genetics.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have identified four specific gene variations involved in brain signaling pathways that provide evidence of a link between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and genetics. The findings, which were recently published in the journal Nature Genetics, also offer clues for treatment of the disorder.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder among children, affecting an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school-aged children, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The disorder is characterized by difficulties with attentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination of these, and is diagnosed far more often among boys than in girls.

In a written statement, lead study author Dr. Hakon Hakonarson, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at Children’s Hospital, said, “At least 10 percent of the ADHD patients in our sample have these particular genetic variants…. The genes involved affect neurotransmitter systems in the brain that have been implicated in ADHD, and we now have a genetic explanation for this link.”

For their study, the researchers analyzed the whole genomes of 1,000 children diagnosed with ADHD, and another 4,100 children who did not have the disorder. The focus of the study was to identify differences in the number of deletions or duplications of DNA, known as “copy number variations,” among the study subjects.

Findings showed that the children with ADHD possessed a considerable number of differences on four specific genes among the glutamate receptor (GMR) gene family, which are involved in a pathway believed to relay information between the neurons and the brain. The neurotransmitter glutamate is a protein that transmits signals between neurons in the brain.

The research team evaluated their findings based on previous research involving nearly 12,000 participants, among whom 2,500 had ADHD and 9,200 did not. The results revealed that at least 10 percent of those children having ADHD had copy number variations in the four genes identified, with the strongest result occurring in a gene called GMR5.

In the news release, Dr. Hakonarson explained, “Members of the GMR gene family, along with genes they interact with, affect nerve transmission, the formation of neurons, and interconnections in the brain, so the fact that children with ADHD are more likely to have alterations in these genes reinforces previous evidence that the GMR pathway is important in ADHD. Our findings get to the cause of the ADHD symptoms in a subset of children with the disease.”

The study findings could lead to the development of new drugs that would target these pathways to provide more effective treatment for ADHD.

In the statement, study co-author Dr. Josephine Elia, a child psychiatrist and ADHD expert at Children’s Hospital noted, “This is another step toward individualizing treatment to a child's genetic profile.”

Over 5.2 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD in the United States alone, according to the CDC. In addition, the prevalence rate in adults has been estimated at between 2 and 7 percent. The study offers hope for those living with the disorder to lead more normal and productive lives.

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Posted in: HEALTH

Child 'Sexters' Risk Arrest, But Problem Uncommon

Sexting, or texting sexually explicit material, by kids and teens isn't as widespread as believed, but it can lead to legal trouble.

New York (Reuters Health) - Sexually explicit material isn't as widespread on kids' cell phones as some surveys have suggested, researchers have found.

But 'sexting'—sending or receiving risqué photos or videos via cell phone—can still mean legal trouble for minors.

"Right now, in most areas, it's a criminal offense," said Kimberly J. Mitchell, a psychologist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham and a co-author on two new reports in the journal Pediatrics. "Child pornography is by definition a sexual picture of a minor."

In one study, Mitchell and her colleagues estimate that U.S. police handled nearly 3,500 cases of sexual images produced by adolescents from 2008 to 2009.

Adults were on the receiving end just over a third of the time, while the rest involved only youths.

Nearly four out of ten cases led to an arrest, including when the sexting had been "romantic" or "attention-seeking."

Fueled by high-profile scandals, sexting has become a hot topic in the media. Earlier this year, Representative Anthony Weiner stepped down from Congress after admitting to sexting in which he sent lewd pictures of himself to young women.

For minors, there is the added concern that sexually explicit photos or videos may be considered child pornography, even when sent from a girl to her boyfriend or vice versa.

Mitchell said parents should make their teens aware of the legal risks and make sure they understand that anything they send could end up on the Internet.

"Once it's out there you probably won't be able to get it back," she told Reuters Health.

And for receivers, Mitchell added, "we are recommending they should delete it and they certainly should not distribute it themselves."

But she also cautioned that youth sexting isn't as common as earlier polls have suggested.

A 2008 survey found one in five teens have sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a private organization based in Washington, D.C. Mitchell and her colleagues got much smaller numbers in a 2010 national survey, however.

Based on phone interviews with more than 1,500 children ages 10 through 17, they found just 2.5 percent had appeared in or produced nude or nearly nude photos or videos. That number dropped to one percent if only sexually explicit material -- naked breasts, genitals or bottoms -- was included.

Between six and seven percent of the adolescents said they'd received such images or videos.

"Overall, our results are actually quite reassuring," said Mitchell.

"With any sort of new technology that kids become involved in there is a tendency to become easily alarmed," she added. "What we are instead seeing is that sexting may just make some forms of sexual behavior more visible to adults."

Bill Albert, a spokesperson for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, welcomed the new findings.

He said he wasn't surprised by the smaller numbers, given that Mitchell and colleagues surveyed younger kids and interviewed them over the phone while their parents were around.

"I wonder if teens are being as truthful as they might be," Albert told Reuters Health, adding that past surveys have come up with a range of estimates.

"It's nothing to panic about, but it's something to address," he said. "It's a good opportunity to sit down with your kid and talk about it."

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Posted in: HEALTH