Each year more than 1 million babies born prematurely before 37 weeks of development in the womb or within the first month of life the “March of Dimes said Sunday in the first comprehensive global report on premature births,” CNN reports. Nearly 10 percent of total births worldwide, or 12.9 million infants, are preterm, the study found (10/4).

“The problem is concentrated in poor countries, with the vast majority of … premature babies born each year in Africa and Asia [based on total numbers], according to the report,” the Associated Press/ New York Times writes (10/4). In Africa, 11.9 percent of babies are born premature, followed by North America (10.6 percent), Asia (9.1 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (8.1 percent), Australia and New Zealand Trustedtablets (6.4 percent) and Europe (6.2 percent), the Washington Post reports (Brown, 10/5).

The report notes, “Wherever trend data are available, rates of preterm birth are increasing.” In addition, “babies who survive premature birth face lifelong health risks, including the possible development of cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss, learning disabilities and other chronic conditions, according to the March of Dimes,” CNN writes (10/4).

Christopher Howson, a March of Dimes researcher who worked on the report, said that not much is known about the causes of preterm birth in the developing world. But he said malnutrition, malaria, anemia and inadequate prenatal care are probably contributing factors, the Washington Post reports (10/5).

According to Agence FrancePresse, Jennifer Howse, March of Dimes president, said, “If world leaders are serious about reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, then strategies and funding for reducing death and disability related to preterm birth must receive priority” (10/4).

The new paper includes data from the WHO Bulletin. In a March of Dimes/EurekAlert! release, the organization said the WHOs “figures are conservative = counting only singleton preterm births, for example and likely underestimates the true magnitude of the worldwide crisis of preterm birth” (10/4).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

The study

Over a period of two years, 30 scientist lead by Associate Professor Peter Krustrup, University of Copenhagen, have investigated physiological, sociological and psychological aspects of womens soccer in comparison to running. 100 untrained adult premenopausal women have participated in the study.

The women (65 participated in the physiological study) were randomly divided into three groups One soccer group, one running group and one control group. The soccer players and runners trained twice a week for one hour. After four and sixteen weeks, all the subjects went through extensive physiological tests. The same 65 subjects + another 35 women playing in soccer clubs were continually observed and interviewed to study the sociological and psychological effects of their training.

Soccer players stick to their game

Many women find it difficult to fit in sport and exercise in their busy daily lives, and many state family and especially small children as the main reason for not finding the time.

The study reveals that contrary to common assumption, the flexibility of running as exercise form actually makes running harder to stick to for most women than soccer, which requires a fixed time and place.

“What is really interesting is that the soccer players differed from the runners in their motivation. The runners were motivated by the idea of getting in shape and improving health. But the soccer players focused on the game itself and were motivated by the social interaction and by having fun with others. As it turns out, the soccer players got in better shape than the runners, and that combined with the social benefits makes soccer a great alternative to running”, says Associate Professor Laila Ottesen and continues

“The women who played soccer have continued their soccer training as a group whereas few of the women in the running group continued running after the study. Actually, some of the women from the running group joined teams with the soccer group after the project finished.”

Why soccer players are more fit

When choosing a sport, women tend to favour cardiovascular training to strength training although the buildup of muscles and bone strength are vital to preserve health into old age.

“While playing soccer, the women have high heart rates and perform many sprints, turns, kicks and tackles, making soccer an effective integration of both cardio and strength training”, says project leader Peter Krustrup.

“Our study shows that the 16 weeks of recreational womens soccer causes marked improvement in maximal oxygen uptake, muscle mass and physical performance, including the endurance, intermittent exercise and sprinting ability, explains Peter Krustrup, and continues, “This makes soccer a very favourable choice of exercise training for women.

In the recent decade, we have seen a significant rise in women and girls playing soccer. It seems as though women are really beginning to take in soccer and make it a popular sport for women on their own terms. This is a very positive step forward, not only because of the improved physical fitness and health profile but also for the enjoyment of sports”, Krustrup concludes.

Publication plans

The present results will be submitted online in the highlevel international journal Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports next week (Bangsbo, Nielsen, Mohr, Randers, Krustrup, Brito, Nybo and Krustrup. Performance enhancements and muscular adaptations of a 16week recreational football intervention for untrained women. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2009).

In January 2010, the same journal will publish a supplementum describing multiple health effects of recreational football for various subject groups, including men, women, young and elderly. The supplementum includes one review and 13 original scientific papers.

The data will also be presented at the Scandinavian Congress of Medicine and Science in Sports 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark, 46 February 2010, and at the 3rd International Football Medicine Conference in Sun City, South Africa, 1921 February 2010.

The project group currently includes collaborators from Switzerland, Norway and Italy, and major applications are currently being processed to include collaborators from England, Portugal, Belgium, Australia and Kenya.

Funding
The work has been financially supported by FMARC, The Danish Ministry of Culture, The Danish Football Association and The Danish Sport Federation, The Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations and by 3F (United Federation of Danish Workers).

Source
Peter Krustrup

New research demonstrates the importance of treating pregnant women with even the mildest forms of gestational diabetes to reduce healthcare risks for both infants and mothers.

Dr. Mark Landon, lead investigator of the multicenter study, and a team of investigators from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development conducted a clinical trial to determine if a benefit existed to diet intervention and frequent glucose monitoring in the management of mild gestational diabetes.

The results appear in todays (Oct. 1) issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

“Treatment is prescribed on a regular basis for most women with gestational diabetes. But we have lacked the evidence until now as to whether treatment of the mildest cases would benefit, or pose risks for, mothers or their newborns,” says Landon, who is also interim chair of obstetrics and gynecology at The Ohio State University Medical Center. “The study confirms that it is worth the time and effort to treat women with even the mildest form of glucose intolerance during pregnancy.”

In most cases of gestational diabetes, a woman receives her diagnosis during pregnancy, and the diabetes does not persist after pregnancy. However, these women have a higher chance of being diagnosed again with adult onset diabetes later in life.

This randomized study included 958 women at 15 medical centers, half receiving treatment for their mild gestational diabetes, and half receiving the usual prenatal care.

Women who received treatment in the study were half as likely to deliver babies with excess body fat and were half as likely to experience shoulder dystocia at birth, occurring when a babys shoulders are caught in the maternal pelvis after delivery of the infants head. The women with treatment also had fewer cesarean deliveries and less preeclampsia, or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

The treatment involved a diet plan, together with close monitoring using a portable meter. If a woman in the study received treatment, she performed at least four glucose tests per day, during her fasting and after meals, to be certain that the diet therapy was keeping her blood glucose within the desired target range. Of the women treated, 93 percent were managed with diet intervention alone, whereas only 7 percent required insulin injections to control blood sugar.

If a woman has elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy, the fetus may also experience high blood sugar levels. As a result, the fetus makes extra insulin, which can lead to excess body fat. Previous studies have suggested that larger babies have an increased frequency of longterm complications such as childhood diabetes and a risk for type II diabetes throughout their lifetime, according to Landon.

“The condition of gestational diabetes may affect up to 14 percent of all U.S. pregnancies,” says Landon. “Recent studies have indicated that the frequency of gestational diabetes is, in fact, increasing in the United States and worldwide. Because of the increasing frequency of gestational diabetes, our study importantly gives hope to affected women that the condition is generally manageable, with dietetic modifications and close monitoring during pregnancy. Considering the potential downstream effects on the infants, treatment at this stage might serve to control the amount of diabetes in the future.”

The study was sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network a part of the National Institutes of Health in addition to the NIHs National Center for Research Resources.

For broadcast quality soundbites and broll of this story, please contact OSU Medical Center Media Relations.

Source Ohio State University Medical Center

Solace Therapeutics, Inc., a medical device company focused on the development of nonsurgical bladder control therapies announced that it has received European CE mark approval for the Solace Intravesical System, and ISO 134852003 certification for the companys Framingham facility. The company is introducing its first product, an officebased therapy for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence at the International Continence Society Meeting in San Francisco on Friday, October 2, 2009.

“This certification and CE mark approval represent a significant achievement and major milestone for Solace,” said Kevin Connors, chief executive officer of Solace Therapeutics. “Successfully completing this process allows us to move forward with the clinical development of the Solace Intravesical System in Europe.

Solace is introducing its first product, a nonsurgical therapy for women with Stress Urinary Incontinence, to ICS members at their annual meeting on Friday. “Solace is targeting those patients that are dissatisfied with current therapies and choose to manage their urinary leakage with absorbent pads or diapers,” said Connors. “Solace has developed a new option for these patients.”

The Solace Balloon is a small lightweight device (about the size of a quarter) that floats within the urinary bladder. It acts as a “shock absorber” to reduce the temporary pressure changes in the bladder that cause urinary leakage. It is placed in the bladder with a soft tubelike catheter and inflated with air. The 5 minute procedure is performed in the physicians office without anesthesia or surgery. No lifestyle change is required after the procedure, and the procedure is reversible at any time.

The Solace Balloon for women with involuntary urine leakage is currently being evaluated in several centers throughout the U.S. in an FDA IDE approved clinical trial.

About Solace Therapeutics

Solace Therapeutics is an emerging medical device company focused on the development of nonsurgical office based treatments for common bladder disorders, such as stress urinary incontinence (SUI), overactive bladder (OAB), male voiding dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Solace is dedicated to improving the patients quality of life by eliminating side effects typically associated with current drug and surgical therapies. Solaces proprietary technology is designed to offer patients the following benefits

Officebased therapy that does not require anesthesia or surgery

No lifestyle change required, before or after treatment

Reversible at any time

Solaces patented technology platform is based on the fundamental fluid mechanics principles of reducing rapid pressure changes in fluid with airbased pressure attenuation. Solace is the pioneer of applying these principles to treat bladder dysfunction.

Source Solace Therapeutics, Inc

Drug companies are sprinting ahead in a race against the clock to deliver millions of doses of vaccine for the H1N1 influenza virus before cooler weather ushers in the 20092010 flu season. A twopart cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS weekly newsmagazine, focuses on that topic and efforts to develop antiviral drugs for flu infections.

C&EN senior correspondent Ann Thayer cites World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that onethird of the worlds population 2.2 billion people will be exposed to the H1N1 virus. Although antiviral drugs can help limit the spread of H1N1, a vaccine offers the best means to prevent infection, the article notes.

Although the H1N1 virus just emerged in April, vaccine developers have made an effective vaccine. However, WHO says that only a fraction of the potential supply will be ready for distribution before flu season starts in October in the Northern Hemisphere. The article describes how at least nine countries have pledged to donate vaccines to help fight the pandemic in developing countries and two vaccine manufacturers have earmarked a portion of their production for developing countries. That generosity will help protect populations that otherwise would not have access to vaccines, the article notes.

ARTICLE
“Flu Vaccine Race against the Clock”
This twopart story is available at
pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8739cover.html
pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8739cover2.html

Source
Michael Woods