Children's Health: Childhood obesity linked to poverty, parenting style ♦ Negative body image increases adolescent obesity risk ♦ World first blood test reduces risk,increases accuracy in prenatal testing

World first blood test reduces risk, increases accuracy in prenatal testing Research into a simple, accurate and low risk blood test that can detect fetal blood group, sex, and genetic conditions in unborn babies, report scientists. The new, simple and safe DNA blood test could spell the end of invasive amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.

Negative body image, not depression, increases adolescent obesity risk Negative body image significantly increases the risk of obesity regardless of whether youth have depression, according to researchers. For the study's purposes, persons with a body mass index of 30 or more were considered obese.

Don't delay: Having to wait doesn't help young kids exercise self-control Would your ability to resist a tantalizing cookie improve if you had to wait a few seconds before you could reach for it? The idea that natural urges 'die down' with time seems intuitive, but new research shows that it's being reminded about what not to do, not the passage of time, that actually helps young children control their impulsive behavior

Childhood obesity linked to poverty, parenting style With childhood obesity rates on the rise, a team of based researchers embarked on a study to show how authoritarian parenting and household income combine to affect kid's obesity risk.

Prenatal Research: Prenatal exercise lowers risks of C-sections ♦ Sunshine alone not enough for vitamin D ♦ Maternal obesity compromises baby's' immune system

Prenatal exercise lowers risks of C-sections, higher birth weights Pregnant women who exercise can significantly lower the risk of undergoing cesarean sections and giving birth to large babies. Prenatal exercise has been suggested to be a means to prevent childhood obesity through a "normalization" in birth weight

Sunshine alone not enough for vitamin D during pregnancy Despite high levels of sunshine, low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are common in Mediterranean women. This finding should help lower the prevalence of early childhood diseases associated with Vitamin D deficiency such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, disorders in bone formation, higher risk of emergency caesarean delivery and premature birth.

Maternal obesity compromises baby's' immune system at time of birth Maternal obesity is linked to several adverse health outcomes for the infant that can persist into adulthood. But when does the immune system of babies born to obese mothers get compromised? Very early in the baby's life, according to a study. The research team analyzed umbilical cord blood samples of infants born to lean, overweight and obese mothers, and found that pre-pregnancy maternal weight has a significant impact on the neonate's immune system.

Changes in placentas protective ability during pregnancy linked to transporter proteins An important function of the human placenta is to protect the fetus from detrimental substances in maternal blood, such as glucocorticoids or toxins. Placental membrane-bound transporter proteins, known as multidrug resistance proteins, protect the fetus by returning unwanted materials to the maternal circulation. A study now reports that bacterial and viral infections differentially influence these transporter proteins in early and late pregnancy, suggesting potential mechanisms underlying infection-related pregnancy complications such as preterm birth and fetal brain damage.

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12/12/14 Health News: RAW MILK-RELATED OUTBREAKS ON THE RISE♦ Chemicals linked with substantial drop in child IQ ♦ HOW TO STORE EGGS SAFELY

CDC STUDY: NUMBER OF RAW MILK-RELATED OUTBREAKS ON THE RISE

During the three years from 2007 to 2009, 30 foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. were connected to raw milk consumption. Yet, in the next three years, from 2010 to 2012, that number rose to 51, according to a new study published in the January issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a peer-reviewed monthly journal published... Continue Reading

Prenatal exposure to common household chemicals linked with substantial drop in child IQ Children exposed during pregnancy to elevated levels of two common chemicals found in the home -- di-n-butyl phthalate and di-isobutyl phthalate -- had an IQ score, on average, more than six points lower than children exposed at lower levels, according to researchers. The study is the first to report a link between prenatal exposure to phthalates and IQ in school-age children. Continue Reading

HOW TO STORE EGGS SAFELY: IT’S DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT THE DATA

The debate over how to store shell eggs has been going on ever since the chicken laid the first egg, if we assume the former came before the latter. Our ancestors looked at a range of techniques to preserve eggs, from burying them in lime to coating them with sodium silicate (water glass). The methods... Continue Reading

Boosting length of breastfeeding could save NHS more than £40 million every year

Doubling the number of mothers who breastfeed for 7-18 months in their lifetime and helping others to continue for at least four months could save the National Health Service more than £40 million every year, suggests new research Continue Reading

Atlas Details Gene Activity of the Prenatal Human Brain,Offers Clues to Psychiatric Disorders

Atlas Details Gene Activity of the Prenatal Human Brain,Offers Clues to psychiatric disorders

A comprehensive three-dimensional atlas of the developing human brain that incorporates gene activity along with anatomical reference atlases and neuroimaging data has released its first major report online today in Nature. This National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded resource, freely available to the public, enables researchers to answer questions related to the early roots of brain-based disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

The recently created BrainSpan Atlas of the Developing Human Brain incorporates gene activity or expression (right) along with anatomical reference atlases (left) and neuroimaging data (not shown) of the mid-gestational human brain. In this figure, the location and expression level of the gene TGIF1 is shown of a brain from 21 weeks post-conception. Knowledge of where and when particular genes are expressed will facilitate research surrounding human brain development and disease.

This big science endeavor, which highlights the transcriptome — when and where genes are turned on in the brain — and anatomy of the human brain during mid-term pregnancy, was undertaken at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. It is the first installment of a consortium project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the NIH, called the BrainSpan Atlas of the Developing Human Brain, which aims to profile gene activity throughout the course of brain development.

“Many neuropsychiatric diseases are likely the result of abnormal brain development during prenatal life,” said lead author Ed Lein, Ph.D., of the Allen Institute. “An anatomically precise molecular atlas of the brain during this time period is a first step to understanding how the human brain develops normally and what can go wrong.”

Although animal studies have provided invaluable insights in the basic mechanisms of brain function, there are limitations that make studies based on human tissues, which are very difficult to obtain, incredibly important. One key area is the neocortex, the outermost brain region involved in higher functions such as action and thought. The neocortex is smooth in rodents; in humans and non-human primates, it is much more complexly organized, elaborately folded into grooves and wrinkles called sulci and gyri.

Further differences in developmental compartments of this area exist between humans and non-human primates. The aim of this highly detailed atlas was to analyze all genes at this level of granularity, allowing meaningful analysis of the molecular underpinnings of human cortical development. Many psychiatric disorders show altered gene activity in the cortex, possibly highlighting changes that occurred during development of this region.

Lein and other researchers studied four donated, intact, high-quality human prenatal brains from preterm stillbirths — two from 15–16 weeks and two from 21 weeks post-conception – as a framework for their atlas. Contributing labs provided data from a variety of genomic and imaging techniques.

The BrainSpan Atlas aims to inspire new hypotheses regarding human brain development, and has already led to some surprising findings. For example, the study authors found significant differences between mouse and human brains in the subplate zone, a developmentally transient structure critical for proper cortical development. On the other hand, the researchers expected to find a unique molecular signature for the outer portion of the subventricular zone, an area which is not found in mice and which contains a hugely expanded pool of neuronal stem cells that give rise to our greatly expanded neocortex. Surprisingly, despite its much larger size, no significant differences were found between this zone and the inner portion of this layer that is conserved from mouse to human.

“The BrainSpan Atlas becomes very powerful when one can understand where and when a particular gene is used — for instance, is it active in precursor cells or in the neurons derived from them?” said Lein, who gave the example that autism candidate genes are expressed very early in in the cortex. Knowledge of the time and location of these genes may lead to future treatment targets and early interventions for this brain disorder, he added.

The BrainSpan Atlas already is making inroads in research surrounding human brain development and disease.

“Although the many genes associated with autism and schizophrenia don’t show a clear relationship to each other in the adult brain, the BrainSpan Atlas reveals how these diverse genes are connected in the developing brain,” said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. “Findings of what goes on early in the prenatal brain can lead to the development of biomarkers for diagnosing brain disorders and for matching patients to treatment options most likely to be successful.

“This atlas is a clear example of the progress that can be made when the public and private sectors work together,” Insel said. “On this first anniversary of the BRAIN Initiative, we are encouraged to see the impact the BrainSpan Atlas is already making on brain research.”

The resource is freely available for viewing, searching, and data mining for gene activity patterns as part of the BrainSpan Atlas of the Developing Human Brain Developing Human Brain , and can also be found via the Allen Brain Atlas data portal Allen Brain Atlas data portal .

Prenatal Origin of Autism Suggested by Disorganized Cortical Patches

NIH-funded study shows disrupted cell layering process in the developing brain

The architecture of the autistic brain is speckled with patches of abnormal neurons, according to research partially funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. This study suggests that brain irregularities in children with autism can be traced back to prenatal development.

“While autism is generally considered a developmental brain disorder, research has not identified a consistent or causative lesion,” said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of NIMH. “If this new report of disorganized architecture in the brains of some children with autism is replicated, we can presume this reflects a process occurring long before birth. This reinforces the importance of early identification and intervention.”

Eric Courchesne, Ph.D. and Rich Stoner, Ph.D., of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego joined colleagues from the Allen Institute for Brain Science to investigate the cellular architecture of the brain’s outermost structure, the cortex, in children with autism. Courchesne recently reported an overabundance of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of children with autism.

For the current study, the researchers analyzed gene expression in postmortem brain tissue from children with and without autism, all between 2 and 15 years of age.

Postmortem analysis of autistic brain tissue revealed patch-like areas of disorganized neurons. Arrows show a patch of decreased or absent expression of genetic markers across multiple layers of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Source: Rich Stoner, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego.

As the prenatal brain develops, neurons in the cortex differentiate into six layers. Each is composed of particular types of brain cells with specific patterns of connections. The research team focused on genes that serve as cellular markers for each of the cortical layers as well as genes that are associated with autism.

The study found that the markers for several layers of the cortex were absent in 91 percent of the autistic case samples, as compared to 9 percent of control samples. Further, these signs of disorganization were not found all over the brain’s surface, but instead were localized in focal patches that were 5-7 millimeters (0.20-0.28 inches) in length and encompassed multiple cortical layers.

These patches were found in the frontal and temporal lobes of the cortex—regions that mediate social, emotional, communication, and language functions. Considering that disturbances in these types of behaviors are hallmarks of autism, the researchers conclude that the specific locations of the patches may underlie the expression and severity of various symptoms in a child with the disorder.

The patchy nature of the defects may explain why early treatments can help young infants and toddlers with autism improve. According to the researchers, since the faulty cell layering does not occur over the entire cortex, the developing brain may have a chance to rewire its connections by sidestepping the pathological patches and recruiting cells from neighboring brain regions to assume critical roles in social and communication functions.