(Press-News.org) In the first two years following the death of a child, there is a 133% increase in the risk of the mother dying, a new study from the University of Notre Dame shows.
Titled "Maternal bereavement: the heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child," the study is published in the current issue of Economics and Human Biology.
Researchers William Evans, a health and labor economist at Notre Dame, and Javier Espinosa of the Rochester Institute of Technology, studied 69,224 mothers aged 20 to 50 for nine years, tracking the mortality of children even after they had left the household. It is the first study of its kind using a large, nationally representative U.S. data source.
According to the study, this heightened mortality is concentrated within the first two years following the death of a child, regardless of the age of the child at the time of death. There also appeared to be no difference in results based on household income, mother's education, family size, the child's sex or the child's cause of death.
The sample was composed of women who are married (84%), white (87%) and non-Hispanic (91%). Slightly more than half the mothers were between the ages of 20 and 34. Approximately one half had a high school education, and one third had some college education or a college degree. Less than 20% had less than a high school education.
Though this study is the first to examine maternal mortality after the death of a child, earlier studies from Denmark in the area of parental bereavement found that parents who experienced the death of a child had a higher risk of first-time hospitalization for a psychiatric disorder than parents who did not lose a child; and mothers had a higher relative risk than fathers, the effect of which was most acute during the first year and significantly elevated for five years or more.
### END
After child dies, mom's risk of early death skyrockets: study
2012-06-28
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
They were what they ate
2012-06-28
You are what you eat, and that seems to have been true even 2 million years ago, when a group of pre-human relatives was swinging through the trees and racing across the savannas of South Africa.
A study published in the journal Nature reveals that Australopithecus sediba, an ape-like creature with human features living in a region about 50 miles northwest of today's Johannesburg, exclusively consumed fruits, leaves and other forest-based foods, even though its habitat was near grassy savanna with its rich variety of savory sedges, tasty tubers and even juicy animals. ...
AgriLife Research study estimates costs of mesquite biomass delivery for bioenergy use
2012-06-28
VERNON – Operating on the thought that, if it is not feasible, it's not going to be done, a group of Texas AgriLife Research scientists is studying the costs of getting potential bioenergy sources such as mesquite to the processed stage.
AgriLife Research scientists from the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Service center at Vernon, Dr. Seong Park, economist; Dr. Jim Ansley, range ecologist; Dr. Mustafa Mirik, associate research scientist; and Marc Maindrault, a visiting forestry student intern from France, have completed a study on costs of delivered biomass.
The ...
AgriLife Research zeroes in on potato disease insect
2012-06-28
AMARILLO – Do potato psyllids migrate from one location to the next, starting in northern Mexico and moving northward as the potato season progresses, or are psyllid populations local?
Knowing whether the insects are migratory or local could help more efficiently manage the insects which are increasingly inflicting damage on the country's potato industry, according to scientists working on the project.
A study that is being done as a part of the national Zebra Chip Specialty Crop Research Initiative involves Dr. Arash Rashed, Texas AgriLife Research vector ecologist, ...
Building a better Rift Valley fever vaccine
2012-06-28
University of Texas Medical Branch researchers have significantly improved an existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus, making possible the development of a more effective defense against the dangerous mosquito-borne pathogen.
The African virus causes fever in humans, inflicting liver damage, blindness, encephalitis and even death on a small percentage of those it infects. It also attacks cattle, sheep and goats, producing high mortality rates in newborn animals and causing spontaneous abortions in nearly all infected pregnant sheep.
In 2000, outbreaks ...
Dietary fiber alters gut bacteria, supports gastrointestinal health
2012-06-28
URBANA – A University of Illinois study shows that dietary fiber promotes a shift in the gut toward different types of beneficial bacteria. And the microbes that live in the gut, scientists now believe, can support a healthy gastrointestinal tract as well as affect our susceptibility to conditions as varied as type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.
As these microbes ferment fiber in the intestine, short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites are produced, resulting in many health benefits ...
Mining cleanup benefits from Texas A&M expertise
2012-06-28
COLLEGE STATION – When Atlantic Richfield Co. was tasked with cleaning up a major superfund site it had purchased in Montana, Dr. Frank Hons, a Texas A&M University professor, got a call to assist the company's consultants, Pioneer Technical Services.
Hons, a soil and crop science professor, spent two years leading a Texas A&M team studying revegetation solutions on land impacted by 100 years of copper mining, mineral processing and smelting in the Anaconda, Mont. area.
The Anaconda Copper Co., a driving force and major employer in the region for 100 years, was purchased ...
Space tornadoes power the atmosphere of the Sun
2012-06-28
Mathematicians at the University of Sheffield, as part of an international team, have discovered tornadoes in space which could hold the key to power the atmosphere of the Sun to millions of kelvin.
The super tornadoes - which are thousands of times larger and more powerful than their earthly counterparts but which have a magnetic skeleton - spin at speeds of more than 6,000 mph at temperatures in millions of centigrade in the Sun's atmosphere.
They are more than 1,000 miles wide – hundreds of miles longer than the total distance between Land's End to John O'Groats. ...
2 year study helps African communities resolve conflicts, protect rights from land grab
2012-06-28
Contact: Dan Klotz
dklotz@burnesscommunications.com
301-280-5756
Francesca Pispisa
fpispisa@idlo.int
39-06-40403297
Burness Communications
2 year study helps African communities resolve conflicts, protect rights from land grab
Communities that survived years of violent strife still struggle to secure permanent rights
WASHINGTON, D.C./ROME (28 June, 2012)—A new report released today by Namati and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) details an effective and cost-efficient process to help rural communities work together to protect their lands ...
UT Southwestern study shows treating diabetes early, intensively is best strategy
2012-06-28
DALLAS – June 28, 2012 – Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown.
"We can potentially change the course of this prevalent disease, which would represent a breakthrough," said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine and author of the study published online in Diabetes Care. "The intensive treatment regimen we propose is different from the stepwise approach recommended in standard guidelines."
As one of the fastest-growing ...
Unemployed Americans face greater risk of mortality: UBC study
2012-06-28
Employment policy is also health policy according to a University of British Columbia study that found that workers experienced higher mortality rates if they didn't have access to social protections like employment insurance and unemployment benefits.
Researchers with the Human Early Learning Partnership and the School of Population and Public Health at UBC found that low and medium-skilled workers in the United States are at a greater risk of death if they lose their job than their German counterparts, who have access to more robust employment protections and insurance.
"Employment ...