High birth weight in First Nations babies linked to a higher risk of postneonatal death
2011-01-18
(Press-News.org) High birth weight in First Nations (North American Indian) babies are linked to a higher risk of postneonatal death (infant deaths that occur from 4 weeks to 1 year of age), according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100837.pdf.
High birth weight or infant macrosomia is defined as a child being born above the 90th percentile relative to a fetal growth standard. Maternal obesity, impaired glucose tolerance and gestational diabetes can all contribute to infant macrosomia and these risks affect a greater proportion of Aboriginal populations.
This study was conducted to determine if the high incidence of macrosomia is a risk factor for perinatal and postneonatal death among First Nations in Quebec. It compared 5193 births to First Nations mothers versus 633,424 births to French mother tongue women from 1991 to 2000 in Quebec.
"We found that macrosomia was not associated with increased risk of perinatal death among births to First Nations women, although its [macrosomia's] prevalence was three times higher than among births to women whose mother tongue women is French," writes Dr. Zhong-Cheng Luo, of the University of Montreal's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre in Montreal, Quebec with coauthors. "Unexpectedly, macrosomia was associated with a much greater risk of postneonatal death (8.3 times as high) among infants of First Nations versus French mother tongue women."
The authors conclude that parents and caregivers should be watchful for the potential high risk of postneonatal death among infants with macrosomia from First Nations women. Further research is needed into determining cause and effective prevention programs must be developed.
In a related commentary (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101700.pdf, Katherine Dray-Donald, Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, writes, "despite these intriguing results concerning possible protective effects of large-for-gestational-age on infant mortality, the factors leading women to have large-for-gestational-age infants are serious for their health; pregravid obesity, weight gain during pregnancy and gestational diabetes. High birthweights in infants pose their own risks in relation to obesity as well. Good nutrition and healthy weight gains in pregnancy, food security for all, and encouraging breastfeeding and many other factors are needed to close the health disparities between infants of First Nations families and those of other Canadians."
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-01-18
Binge drinking, an activity that many young people engage in, has associated adverse health risks and we need to do a better job of controlling overall alcohol usage, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj110029.pdf.
"Given the many stakeholders involved in the sale and consumption of alcohol, we need a national strategy for controlling overall alcohol use," write Drs. Ken Flegel, Noni MacDonald and Paul Hébert in the editorial. "Public health agencies, the hospitality industry, liquor ...
2011-01-18
A review of research evidence produced by researchers from the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group, part of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, has played a pivotal role in the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to extend the availability of donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine for Alzheimer's disease announced today (18th January 2011).
A previous appraisal by NICE of these drugs in 2004 approved the use of donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine for people with moderate Alzheimer's disease, while ...
2011-01-18
Medicare Preventive Services Coverage Not Aligned with USPSTF Recommendations
Evaluating the alignment of Medicare preventive services coverage with the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, researchers find that of the 15 USPSTF recommended interventions for adults aged 65 years and older, Medicare reimburses fully for only one.* For most preventive services (60 percent), Medicare reimburses fully for the service or test, but only partially for the coordination of obtaining that service. For four services (27 percent), Medicare reimburses clinicians ...
2011-01-18
Do you want that in a pill or a shot? A pill, thank you, but most patients never have that choice. The problem with administering many medications orally is that a pill often will not dissolve at exactly the right site in the gastrointestinal tract where the medicine can be absorbed into the bloodstream. A new magnetic pill system developed by Brown University researchers could solve the problem by safely holding a pill in place in the intestine wherever it needs to be.
The scientists describe the harmless operation of their magnetic pill system in rats online the week ...
2011-01-18
Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are the first to develop a curvilinear camera, much like the human eye, with the significant feature of a zoom capability, unlike the human eye.
The "eyeball camera" has a 3.5x optical zoom, takes sharp images, is inexpensive to make and is only the size of a nickel. (A higher zoom is possible with the technology.)
While the camera won't be appearing at Best Buy any time soon, the tunable camera -- once optimized -- should be useful in many applications, including night-vision ...
2011-01-18
Warfarin use may be associated with a significant increase in the risk of death after traumatic injuries, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"The prevalence of warfarin use in the United States is unknown, but the Food and Drug Administration estimates that more than 31 million prescriptions for warfarin were written in 2004," according to background information in the article. "Warfarin is a commonly used anticoagulant [prevents the formation of blood clots] for ...
2011-01-18
A significant portion of the U.S. population does not have access to trauma care within an hours' drive, with certain vulnerable groups at higher risk of worse access, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Trauma centers are a key component of the infrastructure of the U.S. health care system because they have been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality [illness and death] for injured patients of all age ranges, from children to the elderly," the authors write as background information in the article. ...
2011-01-18
As many as one in 16 surgeons reported having suicidal thoughts in the previous year, but few sought help from a mental health clinician, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Death from suicide is more common among physicians than among the general population or among other professionals, according to background information in the article. "Although suicide is strongly linked to depression, the lifetime risk of depression among physicians is similar to that of the general U.S. population," the authors write. ...
2011-01-18
Performing polysomnography (sleep study) prior to pediatric adenotonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids) may help identify children at a higher risk of developing postoperative respiratory complications, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Pediatric adenotonsillectomy is a safe outpatient procedure; however, there is a subset of patients who do not meet the criteria for outpatient surgery," according to background information in the article. Guidelines for ...
2011-01-18
A follow-up program for patients at high risk of developing skin cancer appears to be associated with the detection of melanomas at early stages and with good prognosis, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Efforts to improve melanoma prognosis have focused on identifying and closely monitoring individuals at high risk, according to background information in the article. "Fair-skinned persons, persons who tan with difficulty, blond or red-haired persons and persons ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] High birth weight in First Nations babies linked to a higher risk of postneonatal death
