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Breastfeeding: Benefits of Early Exposure to Maternal Antibodies
By Roberta Attanasio “Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Virtually all mothers can breastfeed, provided they have accurate information, and the support of their family, the health care system and society at large. Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy, is recommended by World Health Organization as the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.” According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Babies are born ready to learn to breastfeed. During pregnancy a woman’s body gains weight and changes to support breastfeeding. Think of the first…
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Sex Differences in the Immune Response to Vaccines
By Roberta Attanasio Women and men respond differently to infectious microbes and vaccines – it is said, indeed, that the immune system of women is stronger than the immune system of men. Stronger or weaker, one thing is certain – men and women are not the same in terms of immune response. A few years ago, the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases published “ The Xs and Y of immune responses to viral vaccines” – a comprehensive article that clearly shows how the biological differences between sexes influence the immune response to vaccines, as for example the influenza, yellow fever and hepatitis vaccines. There are not many published studies on the…
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H7N9 Influenza Virus: Ethnicity and Protection from Infection
By Roberta Attanasio In March 2013, a new flu virus — the H7N9 — was identified in China. By early May, before retreating and disappearing, it had infected 131 people and killed 26 of them. However, less than two weeks ago (January 17), the New York Times reported that “China is disclosing a steadily growing number of cases of H7N9 bird flu, including four more cases announced on Friday, reviving concerns among health experts that the disease may be spreading and could pose a further threat as the world’s largest annual human migration begins ahead of Chinese New Year.” The H7N9 virus is a “reassortant” — it includes combined elements from three…
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Lead Exposure in Infants: The Role of Breastfeeding
By Roberta Attanasio Lead, a toxic heavy metal, is the well-known cause of a global epidemic. It has acute and chronic effects on human health, causing neurological, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, haematological and reproductive effects. Children under the age of 6 are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can severely and adversely influence mental and physical development. In the U.S., lead poisoning has been called the “silent epidemic” — children are exposed mostly because of the remodeling of old houses painted before lead paint was banned in 1978. Indeed, lead paint is one of the most common health hazards. Children exposed to lead experience brain damage, behavioral problems and developmental delays. Recently (December 2013), a…
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A Toxoplasma’s Journey: From Cats to Sea Otters
By Roberta Attanasio Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that infects most warm blooded animals. In 2012, it landed in the news because of its ability to hijack the arousal circuitry of rats — the parasite activates a part of the brain normally engaged in sexual attraction. Rats infected with it are not afraid to approach cats and behave as they would in the presence of a sexually receptive female rat. What happens next? The cat easily catches and eats the infected rat and, in doing so, also catches the parasite — the parasite is happy as it reproduces sexually only in cats. The parasite’s oocysts — sometimes called “eggs”…
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Cooking and Indoor Air Pollution
By Roberta Attanasio Cooking releases some of the same pollutants usually found outdoors in smog. Therefore, without proper ventilation, people can be exposed — indoors — to pollution able to cause serious adverse health effects. A study published in 2012 by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that, in the United States, poor indoor air quality — of which cooking is the major source — is responsible for adverse health effects as significant as those caused by all traffic accidents or infectious diseases. The researchers highlighted the hazards posed by specific indoor air pollutants — secondhand smoke, radon, formaldehyde, acrolein and PM2.5, or particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers…
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The Science of Chocolate: How Long Does it Survive in Hospital Wards?
By Roberta Attanasio The prestigious British Medical Journal is giving the best Christmas present ever to its readers: food for thought. The food is chocolate, the thought (or concern) is chocolate survival. A new research article published just a few days ago and entitled “The survival time of chocolates on hospital wards: covert observational study” presents the result of a study aimed “To quantify the consumption of chocolates in a hospital ward environment.” In other words, the study aimed to answer the following research question: How long does chocolate survive after being identified by healthcare assistants, nurses, and doctors? To answer this research question, observers — doctors familiar with the ward…
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Flame Retardants in Honey?
By Roberta Attanasio When the bees feast on flowers, we enjoy honey, the increasingly popular nature’s sweetener and bearer of many health benefits. The “foodie” boom has generated not only appreciation for the aroma, texture and flavor profiles of different types of honey, but also demand for cosmetics and fragrances that contain it. Not everything about honey is as good as it seems, though – there are things like frauds and unexpected chemicals. Pesticides are a known problem for bees and honey, but now there is something else here – flame retardants. These toxic chemicals are widespread throughout the globe and contaminate the food chain, including human milk, as they are present in…
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Embarrassing Facebook Posts May Cause Anguish
By The Editors A new study from Northwestern University explores the strength of the emotional response to “violations” or ”threats” on Facebook – something that gets posted and results in embarrassment and may, sometimes, create anguish. Jeremy Birnholtz, one of the researchers, said: “Almost every participant in the study could describe something that happened on Facebook in the past six months that was embarrassing or made them feel awkward or uncomfortable.” The study, which will be presented in February 2014 at the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing in Baltimore, found that people concerned about social appropriateness and those with a diverse network of friends on…
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Eco-Label Effect: The Good Taste of Coffee
By Roberta Attanasio Do you want your coffee to taste better? Call it “eco-friendly”. Results from a newly published study show that eco-labels, as for example “fair-trade” or “organic”, promote a willingness to pay more for the product, and not only. These labels also lead people to perceive that products with an eco-label taste better than identical, but unlabeled products. The authors of the study conclude that their findings could help in devising ways to promote sustainable consumer behavior. They have dubbed these biased consumer responses “eco-label effect“. The study is entitled “Who Needs Cream and Sugar When There Is Eco-Labeling? Taste and Willingness to Pay for “Eco-Friendly” Coffee” and…
