Epsom Salts May Reduce Occurrence of Cerebral Palsy

According to an article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, a common household substance may be the key to reducing the number of babies born each year with cerebral palsy, a study being published today has found.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that infusing pregnant women at risk of premature birth with magnesium sulfate — commonly known as Epsom salts — just before they delivered cut their chances of having a baby with cerebral palsy in half.

The study’s authors say the findings could translate into immediate application by doctors in clinical settings, where about 3 of every 1,000 babies end up being diagnosed with the disabling muscle disorder by the time they turn 3.

“We’ve had absolutely no effective tools at cerebral palsy prevention to offer families with a premature baby,” said John Thorp, the McAllister distinguished professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Chapel Hill medical school. “This research in my mind represents a real breakthrough.”

Based on the experiences of 2,200 woman, the study is the largest so far in this country to examine the ability of magnesium sulfate to prevent the common birth defect. The research, appearing in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, showed no significant benefit of Epsom salts, however, in reducing the rate of infant death in those patients.

The big advantage of magnesium sulfate, Thorp said, is that it’s cheap and can be found in every maternity ward. It’s already used to prevent seizures during delivery in women with pre-eclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition marked by high blood pressure and presence of protein in the urine.

Thorp said the side effects of magnesium sulfate infusion therapy can be a “nuisance,” but he doesn’t consider them harmful.

“People don’t like it when they get it. Their face gets flushed, they feel warm, they may have some nausea, some visual blurriness,” said Thorp, who said the obstetrical group at his school is already using the treatment.

About 800,000 children and adults in the United States have cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects movement, balance and posture, according to the March of Dimes.

Babies born prematurely — before 37 weeks and weighing less than 3 1/2 pounds — are significantly more likely to develop cerebral palsy than full-term babies. The rate of pre-term births has been steadily rising, with about 1 of every 8 babies in New Jersey now born prematurely, making it the leading cause of infant death in the state.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the North Carolina study enrolled 2,241 women between 24 and 31 weeks of pregnancy at risk of pre-term birth. Three of every four women had already ruptured their membranes, or “broken their water.” The researchers gave them an intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate or a placebo when delivery appeared imminent.

The results were compelling. Over a three-year period, cerebral palsy occurred only about half as often in children whose mothers were treated with magnesium sulfate: 1.9 percent, compared to 3.5 percent in babies whose mothers received the placebo, Thorp said.

“It was pretty amazing to me,” he said.

Several smaller studies had suggested a benefit in using magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy, although a few had suggested it could actually lead to more infant deaths. A large Australian study of 3,000 women conducted in 2003 had reached similar conclusions as the North Carolina research, but with no statistical significance.

New Jersey obstetricians, many of whom first heard the North Carolina study findings during January’s annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Dallas, applauded the research, saying the scientific evidence seems to justify use of magnesium sulfate as another tool in helping theses tiny babies.

“This sure looks powerful enough now that it is reasonable to use it in this select group of patients,” said Edward Wolf, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

Nutritional Health for Persons with I/DD (and for our Children)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise us to “Choose wisely within a food group.” When we’re faced with each day’s array of food choices, what does “choosing wisely” mean?  Researchers at The University of Montana Rural Institute created the Wise Choices Food Pyramid as a tool to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and others have healthier diets by making better choices within food groups.

The Wise Choices Pyramid ranks foods based on recommendations from the USDA MyPyramid, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, and other scientific organizations. Then, within each food group, the ranked foods are placed according to their nutritional benefits.

For more information, please read our latest Practice Guideline: The Wise Choices Food Pyramid: What if We Did Compare Apples and Oranges? at http://mtdh.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/Publications/WiseChoices.htm

Also, please visit http://www.goodnutritionideas.com for free education materials and full-size posters to help consumers and students learn to make wise diet choices.

Vitamin D Deficiency May Lurk in Babies

The New York Times reported that rickets, or Vitamin D deficiency, is appearing in some of our infants.

Until she was 11 months old, Aleanie Remy-Marquez could have starred in an advertisement for breast milk. She took to nursing easily, was breast-fed exclusively for six or seven months, and ate little else even after that. She was alert and precocious and developed at astonishing speed, her mother said, sitting at four months and walking by eight months.

But once Aleanie started putting weight on her feet, her mother noticed that her legs were curving in a bow shape below the knees. Doctors diagnosed vitamin D-deficiency rickets, a softening of the bones that develops when children do not get enough vitamin D — a crucial ingredient for absorbing calcium and building bone, and the one critical hormone that breast milk often cannot provide enough of.

“I thought I was doing the best thing for her,” said Stephanie Remy-Marquez, of Hyde Park, Mass., after blood tests showed her daughter had no detectable vitamin D. X-ray images of the baby’s wrists and knees showed the edges of the bones and growth plates as blurry and fraying instead of crisp and sharp.

“Breast milk is supposed to be an entire meal, dessert and drinks included,” Ms. Remy-Marquez said. “I thought it was the ultimate cocktail.”

To read the complete story, click here.

Our Children’s Health Is In Danger!

More people had measles infections in the first seven months of this year than during any comparable period since 1996, and public health officials blamed growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

Many of these parents say they believe vaccines cause autism, even though multiple studies have found no reputable evidence to support such a claim. In Britain, Switzerland, Israel and Italy, measles outbreaks have soared, sickening thousands and causing at least two deaths.

From January through July, 131 measles cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 15 states and the District of Columbia. Fifteen people, including four infants, were hospitalized. There were no deaths. Nearly all the cases resulted when people traveling abroad or visiting from a foreign country spread the illness to others. In Illinois, 30 people were sickened in one outbreak.

To read the full story from the New York Times, click here. To read an important editorial on this issue, click here.

Getting Through to Teens About Driving Risks

Teenage drivers have the highest motor vehicle crash and fatality rates of any demographic group, partly because they woefully underestimate driving risks. Injury prevention programs can change their perspective, a new study shows — at least for a while.

Toronto researchers studied 262 high school students participating in a one-day injury prevention program sponsored by their school and a local hospital. In addition to lectures about safety, the program included a tour of an intensive care unit, where students met young persons who had suffered a mild traumatic brain or a spinal cord injury.

A control group of teens were quizzed about driving safety before the talk, while others completed questionnaires about a week or a month afterward.

Their answers were troubling.  To find out why, click here

Major Milestone Reached for Children’s Health and for Chemical Regulation!

The President signed a federal bill today that bans six toxic phthalates from children’s products. His signature bolsters Congress’ overwhelming support for this legislation, and sends a clear message that toxic chemicals have no place in toys.

The phthalate ban, a provision of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, will protect children from these harmful plastic-softening chemicals which are linked to breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, birth defects and other health problems. Advocates see this legislation as a first step toward broader chemical policy reform. “Congress got a glimpse into how chemicals are regulated in this country and saw how broken the system is,” said Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy for the Breast Cancer Fund. “The phthalate ban is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s needed to protect Americans from unsafe chemical exposures.”

The Breast Cancer Fund led a national coalition of parents, health care professionals and environmental health advocates that convinced Congress to pass the phthalate ban, despite aggressive lobbying by the chemical industry. “This is a David and Goliath victory,” said Nudelman. “Public health advocates and parents were up against big oil and the chemical industry, and we won. This should serve as a wake-up call to industry: chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects have no place in consumer products.”

Key legislators heeded parents’ and advocates’ concerns and brought the issue into the legislative arena. Champions include Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who authored the original Senate amendment on phthalates, as well as Sen. Barbara Boxer and Reps. Henry Waxman, Jan Schakowsky and Diana DeGette, who strongly advocated for the ban among their Congressional colleagues.

This legislative action is a direct response to a growing movement of parents, scientists and advocates who are raising concerns about unsafe chemicals in consumer products. Months before Congress took action, retailers and manufacturers including Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Lego, Evenflo and Gerber responded to consumer outcry by announcing plans to phase out phthalates in toys. In the past year, California, Washington and Vermont restricted phthalate use in children’s products.

“Public awareness is at an all-time high,” said Nudelman. “Consumers are saying that the products we buy must be safe, period. The phthalate ban is a great start, and an indication that Congress is ready to consider the kind of sweeping chemical policy reform that is needed.”

For more information on child health and environmental contaminants, visit the Consumer Produce Safety Commission

Methadone Rises as a Painkiller With Big Risks

Methadone, once used mainly in addiction treatment centers to replace heroin, is today being given out by family doctors, osteopaths and nurse practitioners for throbbing backs, joint injuries and a host of other severe pains.

A synthetic form of opium, it is cheap and long lasting, a powerful pain reliever that has helped millions. But because it is also abused by thrill seekers and badly prescribed by doctors unfamiliar with its risks, methadone is now the fastest growing cause of narcotic deaths. It is implicated in more than twice as many deaths as heroin, and is rivaling or surpassing the tolls of painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin.

To read the full article published in the New York Times, click here.

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