Medical Bulletin 26/ November/ 2024 - Video

Expectant mothers who maintain a diet that meets USDA dietary guidelines during pregnancy may be more likely to have infants with healthy birthweights, steadier growth patterns, and potentially a reduced risk of obesity later in childhood, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.

The research, involving more than 2,800 mother-child pairs across eight ECHO Cohort Study Sites, suggests that following a healthy prenatal diet in line with the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans could have long-term positive effects on infant growth up to 24 months.

This study found that eating a healthy diet during pregnancy was linked with a lower chance of extremely rapid infant growth,” said Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Ferrara noted that rapid growth from birth to 24 months is a strong predictor of obesity later in life.

The study used two dietary measures—the Healthy Eating Index and the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern —to look at maternal eating patterns. The Healthy Eating Index measures overall diet quality. The Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern score measures how likely a diet is to cause inflammation in the body. Diets with high Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern scores have been linked to increased levels of inflammation.

Key findings from the research showed that:

Higher Healthy Eating Index scores, reflecting healthier diets, were associated with a 12% reduced chance of infants being born large for gestational age, alongside lower rates of rapid growth up to 6 and 24 months.

Lower Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern scores, indicating diets with reduced inflammatory potential, were associated with a 24% higher chance of large for gestational age and had mixed effects on growth: slower from birth to 6 months but faster growth between birth and 12 months. This association was less clear and warrants further study.

To assess rapid growth, the study relied on a measurement called the weight-for-length z-score a tool used to track an infant's growth. It compares a baby’s weight to its length and tells you how far a baby's weight is from the average weight of babies of the same length. Rapid growth was defined as a significant increase in weight-for-length z-score scores from birth to 6, 12, or 24 months. Babies whose weight-for-length z-score scores jumped more than expected moved to a higher percentile on the growth chart, meaning they weighed more relative to their peers of the same length.

Reference: Hedderson MM, Schuh HB, Knapp EA, et al. Prenatal Diet and Infant Growth From Birth to Age 24 Months. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(11):e2445771. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.45771

A Finnish study found that prolonged standing at work had a negative impact on the research participants’ 24-hour blood pressure. In contrast, spending more time sitting at work was associated with better blood pressure. The study suggests that activity behaviour during working hours may be more relevant to 24-hour blood pressure than recreational physical activity. The findings were published in medicine and science in sports and exercise.

In the Finnish Retirement and Aging study (FIREA) conducted at the University of Turku, the physical activity of municipal employees approaching retirement age was measured using thigh-worn accelerometers during working hours, leisure time, and days off. In addition, the research participants used a portable blood pressure monitor that automatically measured their blood pressure every 30 minutes for 24 hours.

“Rather than any single measurement, 24-hour blood pressure is a better indication of how blood pressure stresses the heart and blood vessels throughout the day and night. If blood pressure is slightly high throughout the day and does not fall sufficiently even at night, blood vessels start to stiffen and the heart has to work harder to cope with the increased pressure. Over the years, this can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease,” says Doctoral Researcher Jooa Norha.

The latest results confirm previous findings that physical activity at work can be harmful to the heart and circulatory system. In particular, prolonged standing can raise blood pressure as the body boosts circulation to the lower limbs by constricting blood vessels and increasing the pumping power of the heart.

“A standing desk can provide a nice change from sitting at the office, but too much standing can be harmful. It's a good idea to take a break from standing during the work day, either by walking every half an hour or sitting for some parts of the day,” Norha recommends.

Reference: Norha, Jooa1; Suorsa, Kristin2,3; Heinonen, Olli J.4; Niiranen, Teemu5,6; Kalliokoski, Kari K.1; Heinonen, Ilkka H.A.1; Stenholm, Sari2,3,7. Associations between Leisure and Work Time Activity Behavior and 24 H Ambulatory Blood Pressure among Aging Workers. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise ():10.1249/MSS.0000000000003594, November 6, 2024. | DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003594

A research team at the University of Vienna, led by medicinal chemist Markus Muttenthaler, has developed a new class of oral peptide therapeutic leads for treating chronic abdominal pain. This groundbreaking innovation offers a safe, non-opioid-based solution for conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which affect millions of people worldwide. The research results were recently published in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Use of opioid is associated with various side effects and addiction risk which has contributed to the ongoing global opioid crisis.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternatives that minimize these risks. This new therapeutic approach targets oxytocin receptors in the gut. Oxytocin is commonly known as the 'love hormone' because of its role in social bonding. Less well-known is that oxytocin can also affect pain perception. When the peptide hormone oxytocin binds to these receptors, it triggers a signal that reduces pain signals in the gut.

The advantage of this approach is that the effect is gut-specific, thus having a lower risk of side effects due to its non-systemic, gut-restricted action. Oxytocin itself cannot be taken orally because it is rapidly broken down in the gastrointestinal tract.

However, Prof. Muttenthaler's team has successfully created oxytocin compounds that are fully gut-stable yet can still potently and selectively activate the oxytocin receptor. This means these newly developed oxytocin-like peptides can be taken orally, allowing for convenient treatment for patients. This approach is especially innovative since most peptide drugs need to be injected as they are also quickly degraded in the gut.

Reference: https://medienportal.univie.ac.at/en/media/recent-press-releases/detailansicht-en/artikel/a-groundbreaking-new-approach-to-treating-chronic-abdominal-pain/

People with Alzheimer's exhibit a loss of motor control along with cognitive decline. One of the earliest signs of this decay can be spotted in involuntary eye movements known as saccades. Researchers from École de Technologie Supérieure and Dartmouth University investigated the use of earpiece microphones to spot early signs of Alzheimer's. They presented their work at the virtual 187th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.

These quick twitches of the eyes in Alzheimer's patients are often slower, less accurate, or delayed compared to those in healthy individuals. Detecting and analyzing saccades directly requires a patient to be monitored by eye-tracking equipment, which is not easily accessible for most people.

Boutros and her colleagues are exploring an alternative method using a more ubiquitous and less intrusive technology: earpiece microphones.

"We are using a device called a hearable," said Boutros. "It is an earpiece with in-ear microphones that captures physiological signals from the body. Our goal is to develop health-monitoring algorithms for hearables, capable of continuous, long-term monitoring and early disease detection."

Eye movements, including saccades, cause eardrum vibrations that can be picked up by sensitive microphones located within the ear. The researchers are conducting experiments with volunteers, giving them both hearables and conventional eye trackers.

Their goal is to identify signals corresponding to saccades, and to differentiate between healthy signals and others that are indicative of neurological disorders like Alzheimer's.

Reference: https://acoustics.org/listening-for-early-signs-of-alzheimers-disease-asa187/