Medical Bulletin 27/April/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Mums with SLE twice as likely to have premature or growth restricted babies: Study

A 10-year nationwide audit of hospital admissions records in the US and published online in the open access journal RMD Open finds that mothers with the long term autoimmune disorder, systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE for short, run more than double the risk of giving birth to a premature or growth restricted baby, finds

And these mothers are nearly 4 times as likely to need a blood transfusion and 15 times as likely to develop kidney failure during delivery as mothers without the condition, the audit shows.

Rates of death and serious illness among new mothers are increasing in the USA, likely due to rising rates of obesity, underlying conditions, and older age at motherhood, say the researchers.

Reference:

Fetal and maternal morbidity in pregnant patients with Lupus: a 10-year US nationwide analysis,RMD Open, DOI 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002752

Nearly half of people with concussion show persistent symptoms of brain injury after six months: Study

Mild traumatic brain injury - concussion - results from a blow or jolt to the head. It can occur as a result of a fall, a sports injury or from a cycling accident or car crash, for example. But despite being labelled ‘mild’, it is commonly linked with persistent symptoms and incomplete recovery. Such symptoms include depression, cognitive impairment, headaches, and fatigue.

Even mild concussion can cause long-lasting effects to the brain, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. Using data from a Europe-wide study, the team has shown that for almost a half of all people who receive a knock to the head, there are changes in how regions of the brain communicate with each other, potentially causing long term symptoms such as fatigue and cognitive impairment.

Reference

Woodrow, RE et al. Acute thalamic connectivity precedes chronic postconcussive symptoms in mild traumatic brain injury. Brain; 26 April 2023; DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad056

Japanese food inhibits development of liver fibrosis: Study

There is a scoring system named “the 12-component modified Japanese Diet Index (mJDI12),” which focuses on the intake of the Japanese diet pattern. It includes 12 foods and food groups: rice, miso soup, pickles, soy products, green and yellow vegetables, fruits, seafood, mushrooms, seaweed, green tea, coffee, and beef and pork. Scores range from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating a diet that conforms to the Japanese food pattern.

Japanese food is popular worldwide and so much that it has been registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Reference:

Severity of Liver Fibrosis Is Associated with the Japanese Diet Pattern and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease,Nutrients,DOI 10.3390/nu15051175