Antiseptic prevents deaths in newborns
2015-03-06
(Press-News.org) A low-cost antiseptic used to cleanse the cord after birth could help reduce infant death rates in developing countries by 12%, a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library suggests. Authors of the review found that when chlorhexidine was used on babies born outside of a hospital, it reduces the number of newborn babies who died or suffer from infections.
A third of deaths in newborn babies are caused by infections. As one of the World Health Organisation's Essential Medicines, chlorhexidine has been used in hospitals and other medical settings to prevent bacterial infections for many decades. It can be applied topically as a gel, wash or powder. In maternity care, it can be used either as a vaginal disinfectant to prevent the spread of bacteria from mother to baby, or as a cleansing agent for the newborn baby's skin or umbilical cord. In some countries with high infant death rates, using chlorhexidine as a cleansing agent after birth has been shown to be a cost-effective way to reduce the risk of death from infection. However, more comprehensive approaches to examining the evidence are required.
The researchers reviewed data from 12 trials involving over 87,000 newborns. Seven of the trials took place in South-East Asia, two in Africa, two in Europe and one South America. Of the 12 trials, the five carried out in community settings, which involved 72,030 newborns, provided the highest quality evidence. These trials included home births. They showed that cleansing cords with chlorhexidine reduced infant deaths by 12% compared to keeping cords dry. Using chlorhexidine also halved the number of newborn babies that suffered from omphalitis, swelling of the cord stump commonly caused by bacterial infections.
"Based on our review, using chlorhexidine to clean the umbilical cord saves newborn babies lives," said lead researcher Anju Sinha, who is based at the Indian Council of Medical Research in New Delhi, India.
The authors conclude that further evidence from African countries is needed to help to support the findings. "The greatest benefits were seen in the South-East Asian studies," said Sinha. "The results from African studies are less convincing, so we would like to see whether the results from ongoing trials in Zambia and Tanzania can substantiate this evidence."
INFORMATION:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-03-06
More young people than ever are getting most of their information about sexual matters from school, but the majority feel they are not getting all the information they need, and men in particular are missing out, according to new research published in BMJ Open.
The findings come from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), the largest scientific study of sexual health and lifestyles in Britain. The research was carried out by UCL (University College London), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and NatCen Social Research. ...
2015-03-06
CHICAGO --- Walking barefoot on sand "felt like walking on glass" for Keith Wenckowski, who has lived with type-one diabetes for more than two decades.
One of the participants in a new Northwestern Medicine study who suffered from painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN), Wenckowski finally found relief from the constant foot pain that required him to wear shoes at all times, even to the beach.
The study found that those with PDN who received two low dose rounds of a non-viral gene therapy called VM202 had significant improvement of their pain that lasted for months.
"I ...
2015-03-06
Methane is one hot gas. It's a prominent component of natural gas, an important atmospheric gas, and a product of both biology and chemical reactions. Its presence was recently confirmed in the atmosphere of Mars by NASA's Curiosity Rover and it has made the news both as a critical greenhouse gas and as a groundwater contaminant resulting from fracking. Yet, while methane seems to be everywhere, many questions remain about the reactions that produce and consume this high-energy compound.
"Deciphering the many pathways by which methane is produced is one of the holy grails ...
2015-03-06
For the first time, CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has been employed in a whole organism model to systematically target every gene in the genome. A team of scientists at the Broad Institute and MIT's David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research have pioneered the use of this technology to "knock out," or turn off, all genes across the genome systematically in an animal model of cancer, revealing genes involved in tumor evolution and metastasis and paving the way for similar studies in other cell types and diseases. The work appears online March 5 in Cell.
"Genome-scale ...
2015-03-06
A molecule found in some plants can combat weight gain induced by a high-fat diet, but only in female mice, not males. 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) is thought to mimic the effects of a growth factor induced by exercise.
Emory researchers led by Keqiang Ye, PhD, have shown that female mice treated with 7,8-DHF could consume a high-fat diet without gaining weight. In the mice, 7,8-DHF could increase energy expenditure by acting on muscle cells, without suppressing appetite.
"An equivalent diet pill in humans would allow people to maintain a healthy weight, despite a ...
2015-03-06
Did you know that our body produces its own marijuana-like compound to protect us against anxiety? A study led by Ottawa researchers, published today in Neuron, reveals a new biological pathway that regulates this system and suggests that a drug currently in clinical trials to treat obesity might also provide an attractive way to combat anxiety disorders.
"Anxiety and obesity are growing problems in society," said Dr. Hsiao-Huei Chen, associate professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. "Not only ...
2015-03-06
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its capacity to trap heat in Earth's atmosphere for a long time. The gas can originate from lakes and swamps, natural-gas pipelines, deep-sea vents, and livestock. Understanding the sources of methane, and how the gas is formed, could give scientists a better understanding of its role in warming the planet.
Now a research team led by scientists at MIT and including colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Toronto, and elsewhere has developed an instrument that can ...
2015-03-06
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Soybean oil accounts for more than 90 percent of all the seed oil production in the United States. Genetically modified (GM) soybean oil, made from seeds of GM soybean plants, was recently introduced into the food supply on the premise that it is healthier than conventional soybean oil.
But is that premise true?
Just barely, say scientists at the University of California, Riverside and their colleagues at UC Davis. The researchers compared the effects of both oils in experiments performed in the lab on mice. They found that the GM soybean oil is ...
2015-03-06
Astronomers have glimpsed a far off and ancient star exploding, not once, but four times.
The exploding star, or supernova, was directly behind a cluster of huge galaxies, whose mass is so great that they warp space-time. This forms a cosmic magnifying glass that creates multiple images of the supernova, an effect first predicted by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity 100 years ago.
Dr Brad Tucker from The Australian National University (ANU) says it's a dream discovery for the team.
"It's perfectly set up, you couldn't have designed a better experiment," ...
2015-03-06
Take a wild, common forest-dwelling mouse-like rodent, known as a vole, and subject it to 13 rounds of selection for increased aerobic exercise metabolism, and what do you get? A mighty "mouse" with a 48 percent higher peak rate of oxygen consumption and an increased basal metabolic rate, compared to unselected controls.
In a new study appearing in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution, authors Konczal et al. took advantage of an experimental evolution technique that has gained popularity, dubbed "evolve and resequence," to measure the genetic ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Antiseptic prevents deaths in newborns
