Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Despite greater awareness of the dangers of prenatal exposure to alcohol, the rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders remain alarmingly high. This study evaluated academic achievement among children known to be prenatally exposed to maternal heavy alcohol consumption as compared to their peers without such exposure, and explored the brain regions that may underlie academic performance.}

Researchers assessed two groups of children, eight to 16 years of age: 67 children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (44 boys, 23 girls) and 61 children who were not prenatally exposed to alcohol (33 boys, 28 girls). Scores on standardized tests of academic areas such as reading, spelling, and math were analyzed. In addition, a subsample of 42 children (29 boys, 13 girls) had brain imaging, which allowed the authors to examine the relations between the cortical structure (thickness and surface area) of their brains and academic performance.

The alcohol-exposed children performed significantly worse than their peers in all academic areas, with particular weaknesses found in math performance. Brain imaging revealed several brain surface area clusters linked to math and spelling performance. The children without prenatal alcohol exposure demonstrated the expected developmental pattern of better scores associated with smaller brain surface areas, which may be related to a typical developmental process known as pruning. However, alcohol-exposed children did not show this pattern, possibly due to atypical or delayed brain development, which has been observed in other research studies. These results support previous findings of lower academic performance among children prenatally exposed to alcohol compared to their peers, which appear to be associated with differences in brain development, and highlight the need for additional attention and support for these children.

Source:Science Daily

{The need to pee at night (nocturia) — which affects most people over the age of 60 — is related to the amount of salt in your diet, according to new research presented at the European Society of Urology congress in London.}

Most people over the age of 60 (and a substantial minority under 60) wake up one or more times during the night to go to the bathroom. This is nightime peeing, or nocturia. Although it seems a simple problem, the lack of sleep can lead to other problems such as stress, irritability or tiredness, and so can have a significant negative impact on quality of life. There are several possible causes of nocturia. Now a group of Japanese scientists have discovered that reducing the amount of salt in one’s diet can significantly reduce excessive peeing — both during the day and when asleep.

A group of researchers from Nagasaki University, led by Dr Matsuo Tomohiro, has studied salt intake in a group of 321 men and women who had a high salt intake and had problems sleeping — Japanese people tend to have a higher than average salt intake. The patients were given guidance and support to reduce salt consumption. They were followed for 12 weeks, and salt consumption measured biochemically.

223 members of the group were able to reduce their salt intake from 10.7 gm per day to 8.0 gm/day. In this group, the average night-time frequency of urination dropped from 2.3 times/night to 1.4 times. In contrast, 98 subjects increased their average salt intake from 9.6 gm/night to 11.0 gm/night, and they found that the need to urinate increased from 2.3 times/night to 2.7 times/night. The researchers also found that daytime urination was reduced when salt in the diet was reduced.

This reduction in the need to go to the bathroom at night caused a marked improvement in the quality of life of the participants, as measured by the standard CLSS-QoL questionnaire.

Dr Tomohiro said, “This is the first study to measure how salt intake affects the frequency of going to the bathroom, so we need to confirm the work with larger studies. Night- time urination is a real problem for many people, especially as they get older. This work holds out the possibility that a simply dietary modification might significantly improve the quality of life for many people.”

Commenting, Dr Marcus Drake (Bristol, UK), Working Group Lead for the EAU Guidelines Office Initiative on Nocturia, said: “This is an important aspect of how patients potentially can help themselves to reduce the impact of frequent urination. Research generally focusses on reducing the amount of water a patient drinks, and the salt intake is generally not considered. Here we have a useful study showing how we need to consider all influences to get the best chance of improving the symptom.”

Source:Science Daily

{Small children with low levels of vitamin B12 had more difficulties solving cognitive tests, such as the ability to do puzzles, recognize letters and interpret other children’s feelings.}

Poor B12 status as a baby was associated with a decrease in test scores at 5 years of age, reports researcher Ingrid Kvestad at Uni Research in Bergen, Norway and colleagues in a new study.

Kvestad is first author on the work, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“Our results clearly demonstrate associations between early vitamin B12 status and various measures on development and cognitive functioning, as for example the ability to interpret complex geometrical figures, and the ability to recognize other children`s emotions,” says Kvestad.

Accordingly, the study suggests that vitamin B12 deficiency impair, or possibly delays, brain development in small children.

“The number of children in low-income countries that do not develop according to their potential is large. Our results indicate that correcting children`s vitamin B12 status early may be one measure to secure a healthy development for these vulnerable children. We are currently in the process of confirming our results in randomized controlled trials,” says Kvestad

Kvestad’s colleauge Mari Hysing at Uni Research is among the study co-authors.

The other study contributors have their affiliation at Innlandet Hospital Trust, the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Nepal, Center for Intervention Studies in Maternal and Child Health (CISMAC) at the University of Bergen, Oslo and Akershus University College, Haukeland University Hospital, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In low income countries, and in particular in South Asia where many eat limited amounts of meat and other animal products, poor vitamin B12 status is prevalent. Previous findings indicate that vitamin B12 is important for the developing brain.

The researchers collected blood from 500 infants in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and measured their B12 status.

Approximately 5 years later they contacted 320 of these children and conducted various developmental and cognitive tests.

“Most of the Nepalese children participating in the study did not have severely low levels of vitamin B12, but their levels were suboptimal, below the recommendations for best possible growth and development,” says Kvestad.

“It’s like a hidden deficiency of the vitamin in these children’s bodies, making their cells work rigorously to signalize imminent danger. Our study is one contribution in the big puzzle to understand the implications low B12 levels might have on small children’s cognitive development,” says Kvestad.

Source:Science Daily