Day: July 12, 2022

Categories : Environmental Effects Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags : Leave a comment

Maternal Phthalates Exposure Increases Preterm Birth Risk

On By ModernMedia
pregnant woman holding her belly
Source: Anna Hecker on Unsplash

A National Institutes of Health study has found that pregnant women who were exposed to multiple phthalates during pregnancy had an increased risk of preterm birth. The most significant correlation was for a phthalate most commonly used in nail polish and cosmetics.

Used in a great variety of products such as cosmetics and food packaging, phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are known to have a wide range of health effects on humans. This especially true of children, due to their impact on the developmental system, as well as the reproductive system.

Researchers analysed data from more than 6000 pregnant women in the US, and found that women with higher concentrations of several phthalate metabolites in their urine had increased risks of preterm birth.

“Having a preterm birth can be dangerous for both baby and mom, so it is important to identify risk factors that could prevent it,” said epidemiologist Kelly Ferguson, PhD, the senior author on the study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Data from 16 US studies that included individual participant data on prenatal urinary phthalate metabolites (representing exposure to phthalates) as well as the timing of delivery. Researchers analysed data from a total of 6045 pregnant women who delivered between 1983-2018, 9% of whom delivered preterm. Phthalate metabolites were detected in more than 96% of urine samples.

Exposure to four of the 11 phthalates found in the pregnant women was associated with a 14–16% greater probability of having a preterm birth. The most consistent findings were for exposure to a phthalate that is used commonly in personal care products like nail polish and cosmetics.

Using statistical models to simulate interventions that reduce phthalate exposures, the researchers found that reducing the mixture of phthalate metabolite levels by 50% could prevent preterm births by 12% on average. Interventions targeting behaviours, such as trying to select phthalate-free personal care products (if listed on label), voluntary actions from companies to reduce phthalates in their products, or changes in standards and regulations could contribute to exposure reduction and protect pregnancies.

“It is difficult for people to completely eliminate exposure to these chemicals in everyday life, but our results show that even small reductions within a large population could have positive impacts on both mothers and their children,” said Barrett Welch, PhD, first author on the study.

Eating fresh, home-cooked food, avoiding processed food that comes in plastic containers or wrapping, and selecting fragrance-free products or those labeled ‘phthalate-free’, are examples of things people can do that may reduce their exposures. Changes to the amount and types of products that contain phthalates could also reduce exposures.

The researchers are undertaking further studies to better understand the mechanisms behind how phthalates affect pregnancy and to find ways for mothers to reduce their exposures.

Source: National Institutes of Health

Categories : NeurologyTags : Leave a comment

The Brain Unconsciously Excels at Spotting Deepfakes

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When looking at real and ‘deepfake’ faces created by AI, observers can’t consciously recognise the difference – but their brains can, according to new research which appears in Vision Research.

Convincing fakes made by computers, deepfake videos, images, audio, or text are rife in the spread of disinformation, fraud and counterfeiting.

For example, in 2016, a Russian troll farm deployed over 50 000 bots on Twitter, making use of deepfakes as profile pictures, to try to influence the outcome of the US presidential election, which according to some research may have boosted Donald Trump’s votes by 3%. More recently, a deepfake video of Volodymyr Zelensky urging his troops to surrender to Russian forces surfaced on social media, muddying people’s understanding of the war in Ukraine with potential, high-stakes implications.

Fortunately, neuroscientists have discovered a new way to spot these insidious fakes: people’s brains are able to detect AI-generated fake faces, even though people could not distinguish between real and fake faces.

When looking at participants’ brain activity, the University of Sydney researchers found deepfakes could be identified 54% of the time. However, when participants were asked to verbally identify the deepfakes, they could only do this 37% of the time.

“Although the brain accuracy rate in this study is low – 54 percent – it is statistically reliable,” said senior researcher Associate Professor Thomas Carlson.

“That tells us the brain can spot the difference between deepfakes and authentic images.”

Spotting bots and scams

The researchers say their findings may be a starting-off point in the battle against deepfakes.

“The fact that the brain can detect deepfakes means current deepfakes are flawed,” Associate Professor Carlson said. “If we can learn how the brain spots deepfakes, we could use this information to create algorithms to flag potential deepfakes on digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter.”

They project that in the more distant future that technology, based on their and similar studies, could developed to alert people to deepfake scams in real time. Security personnel for example might wear EEG-enabled helmets to alert them of a deepfake.

Associate Professor Carlson said: “EEG-enabled helmets could have been helpful in preventing recent bank heist and corporate fraud cases in Dubai and the UK, where scammers used cloned voice technology to steal tens of millions of dollars. In these cases, finance personnel thought they heard the voice of a trusted client or associate and were duped into transferring funds.”

Method: eyes versus brain

The researchers conducted two experiments, one behavioural and one using neuroimaging. In the behavioural experiment, participants were shown 50 images of real and computer-generated fake faces and were asked to identify which were real and which were fake.

Then, a different group of participants were shown the same images while their brain activity was recorded using EEG, without knowing that half the images were fakes.

The researchers then compared the results of the two experiments, finding people’s brains were better at detecting deepfakes than their eyes.

A starting point

The researchers stress that the novelty of their study makes it merely a starting point. It won’t immediately – or even ever – lead to a foolproof way of detecting deepfakes.

Associate Professor Carlson said: “More research must be done. What gives us hope is that deepfakes are created by computer programs, and these programs leave ‘fingerprints’ that can be detected.

“Our finding about the brain’s deepfake-spotting power means we might have another tool to fight back against deepfakes and the spread of disinformation.”

Source: The University of Sydney

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MRI Scans of Video Gamers Show Superior Sensorimotor Decision-making

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Video gamers who play regularly show superior sensorimotor decision-making skills and enhanced activity in key regions of the brain as compared to non-players, according to a recent US study published in the Neuroimage: Reports journal.

Analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of video game players suggested that video games could be a useful tool for training in perceptual decision-making, the authors said.

“Video games are played by the overwhelming majority of our youth more than three hours every week, but the beneficial effects on decision-making abilities and the brain are not exactly known,” said lead researcher Mukesh Dhamala, associate professor at Georgia State University.

“Our work provides some answers on that,” Assov Prof Dhamala elaborated. “Video game playing can effectively be used for training – for example, decision-making efficiency training and therapeutic interventions – once the relevant brain networks are identified.”

Assoc Prof Dhamala was the adviser for Tim Jordan, PhD, the paper’s lead author, who had a personal example of how such research could inform the use of video games for training the brain.

Dr Jordan, had weak vision in one eye as a child. As part of a research study when he was about 5, he was asked to cover his good eye and play video games as a way to strengthen the vision in the weak one. Dr Jordan credits video game training with helping him go from legally blind in one eye to building strong capacity for visual processing, allowing him to eventually play lacrosse and paintball. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA.

The Georgia State research project involved 47 university-aged-age participants, with 28 categorised as regular video game players and 19 as non-players.

The subjects lay inside an fMRI machine with a mirror that let them see a cue immediately followed by a display of moving dots. Participants were asked to press a button in their right or left hand to indicate the direction the dots were moving, or resist pressing either button if there was no directional movement.

Video game players proved to be faster and more accurate with their responses. Analysis of the brain scans found that the differences were associated with enhanced activity in certain parts of the brain.

“These results indicate that video game playing potentially enhances several of the subprocesses for sensation, perception and mapping to action to improve decision-making skills,” the authors wrote. “These findings begin to illuminate how video game playing alters the brain in order to improve task performance and their potential implications for increasing task-specific activity.”

No trade-off was observed between speed and accuracy of response – the video game players were better on both measures.

“This lack of speed-accuracy trade-off would indicate video game playing as a good candidate for cognitive training as it pertains to decision-making,” the authors wrote.

Source: Georgia State University

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Study Uncovers Molecular Pathway for Effect of Stress on Lupus

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A team of researchers have identified a molecular mechanism by which stress affects a neuropsychiatric form of lupus, revealing a potential target for the treatment of the disease. Their findings were published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythromatosus (NPSLE), which affects the central nervous system is one of the most severe forms of lupus, for which there is currently no cure. NPSLE is the least understood yet maybe the most prevalent manifestation of lupus, comprising 14%–80% or more of adult SLE cases and 22%–95% of paediatric cases. It can occur independently of active systemic disease and without serologic activity and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality

The research team, led by Professor Masaaki Murakami at Hokkaido University, focused on a specific type of NPSLE called Neuropsychiatric lupus with diffuse neuropsychological manifestations (dNPSLE). There are believed to be a number of causes for dNPSLE, but little is known about its pathogenesis. The researchers were primarily interested in the effects of stress, as chronic stress is linked to the development of many autoimmune diseases.

The researchers conducted experiments on mice models that exhibit SLE-like symptoms to identify the underlying mechanisms dNPSLE. After subjecting a set of these mice to sleep deprivation stress, they observed that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the brain was abnormally activated.

In the mPFC, at least 509 genes’ expressions were significantly affected by sleep deprivation. In particular, there was an upregulation of gene that is required for two interleukins, IL12 and IL23. They further showed that upregulating these two interleukins caused activation of the microglial cells of the mPFC. Blocking IL12 and IL23 pathways in these sleep-deprived mice models inhibited the stress-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Most importantly, they showed that there were elevated levels of IL12 and IL23 in the cerebrospinal fluid of human patients with dNPSLE, which could constitute a diagnostic marker. They also showed that the mPFC in dNPSLE patients is atrophied; together, these observations indicate that the mouse model findings may be applicable to humans.

Summing up, Prof Murakami said: “In revealing the effect of the stress-induced effects on the expression of IL12 and IL23 in dNPSLE, we have identified them as not only a diagnostic marker but also a novel therapeutic target for this disease.”

Source: Hokkaido University

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Is Fathers’ Lifestyle a Risk Factor for Partners’ Preeclampsia?

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Although various maternal risk factors have been recognised, it is still unclear what causes preeclampsia, and some evidence suggests paternal risk factors such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. New research published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica suggests that fathers’ characteristics and lifestyle however do not in fact play a significant role in their partners’ susceptibility to preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a complex vascular disorder in pregnancy characterized by new-onset hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation or new-onset PE-associated signs in the absence of proteinuria.

In this study, researchers examined questionnaire data from 586 men who had fathered a preeclamptic pregnancy and 660 control men who had fathered a non-preeclamptic pregnancy. Fathers in the former group more often reported preeclampsia in a previously fathered pregnancy, but there were no differences in the socioeconomic background or health history of the preeclamptic and control fathers or their parents.

“Importance of paternal genetic factors has been demonstrated in their partners’ susceptibility to preeclampsia, but the role of paternal phenotype and lifestyle is still not well understood. Both paternal genotype and phenotype need to be addressed in future studies,” said co-author Noora Jaatinen, MD, a University of Turku PhD student.

Source: Wiley

Categories : COVIDTags : Leave a comment

SA Study Finds no Increased Severity in Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 Infections

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South African researchers have found that, compared to Omicron BA.1 and earlier infections, those caused by Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 do not have an increased risk of hospitalisation for severe disease or death.

The study, which appears online in the medRxiv server, aimed to compare clinical severity of Omicron BA.4/BA.5 infection with BA.1 and earlier variant infections among laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in the Western Cape, South Africa, using timing of infection to infer the lineage/variant causing infection.

In their study, the researchers included public sector patients aged 20 years or older with laboratory-confirmed COVID between 1 and 21 May 2022 (for the BA.4/BA.5 wave) and equivalent prior wave periods. They compared the risk for death and severe hospitalisation/death (all within 21 days of diagnosis), adjusting for for demographics, comorbidities, admission pressure, vaccination and prior infection.

Comparing 3793 patients from the BA.4/BA.5 wave and 190 836 patients from previous waves the risk of severe hospitalisation or death was similar in the BA.4/BA.5 and BA.1 waves (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.12). Both Omicron waves had a lower risk of severe outcomes than previous waves. They also found that both prior infection (aHR 0.29) and vaccination (aHR 0.17; 0.40 for boosted vs no vaccine) were protective.

Overall, the researchers found that COVID disease severity was similar for the BA.4/BA.5 and BA.1 periods in the context of growing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 due to prior infection and vaccination, which were both strongly protective.

Categories : Paediatrics Respiratory DiseasesTags : Leave a comment

Hospital Readmissions for Children with Asthma on The Increase

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Hospital readmissions for asthma are increasing among children, likely stemming from COVID lockdowns reducing immunity to common respiratory viruses. These are the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Asthma. The finding highlights the gaps in health care for this most common of chronic paediatric illnesses.

The Australian study, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, found about one in three children, mostly pre-schoolers, are readmitted to hospital for asthma compared to one in five a decade ago.

Most asthma hospital presentations were preventable, Murdoch Children’s Dr Katherine Chen said, which emphasises the need for a holistic evaluation of each child’s asthma management to prevent future readmissions.

The study involved 767 children, aged three to 18 years, who were admitted to three hospitals in Victoria state between 2017-2018 with a diagnosis of asthma. It found that 34.3% were readmitted to hospital for asthma, with those aged three to five years accounting for 69.2%. Of the 767 participants, 20.6% were readmitted once, and 13.7% had two or more readmissions in 12 months. 

“Our study highlighted gaps in the children’s asthma care,” Dr Chen said. Over a third of children hadn’t had a review of their inhaler technique, and only about a quarter were prescribed a preventer or asked to continue using it.

“Almost three quarters were discharged without a preventer medication, and over 80 per cent did not have a follow-up clinic booked at the hospital, often reserved for children with difficult-to-control asthma. Most families, therefore, need to navigate their child’s asthma follow-up with their GP.”

Recently, said Dr Chen, asthma admissions had spiked due to the rise in respiratory infections and children lacking immunity to common viruses as a result of COVID lockdowns.

Professor Harriet Hiscock at MCRI said that the findings confirmed the important role of GPs in paediatric asthma management and how targeted interventions at each hospital could reduce readmissions.

“Less than 10 per cent were readmitted within 30 days suggesting the importance of ongoing community care and longer-term asthma control,” she said. The need to regularly review overall asthma management, minimise risk factors, arrange follow-up, and support optimum care in the community are key.

“Interactive digital symptom monitoring with specialist nurse support, home-based education and a culturally tailored education program could also help.”

Prof Hiscock said linked datasets were important to objectively measure the burden of asthma cases on health services.

“Our current dataset cannot verify whether the follow-up appointment was attended, whether caregivers had arranged follow-up post-discharge and if the medications were used as prescribed,” she said. “Integrating datasets such as health services and medication use into clinical care will improve the clinician’s understanding of the child’s asthma control and medication adherence and would assist in providing targeted treatments.”

Asthma is the most common chronic paediatric illness in industrialised countries, affecting 8–10% of children.

Source: Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

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Low Doses of Benzbromarone may be Better for Gout Treatment

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A painful inflammatory form of arthritis, gout is characterised by urate crystals accumulating in joints, soft tissue and bones. To decrease blood urate levels in patients and reduce flareups, the standard treatment is xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as febuxostat. But new research published in Arthritis & Rheumatology has found a possible better option in the form of low doses of benzbromarone, a less commonly used drug.

Biochemically, gout is characterised by extracellular fluid urate saturation, which is reflected by hyperuricaemia in the blood, with plasma or serum urate concentrations in excess of 6.8 mg/dL; this is the approximate limit of urate solubility.

Benzbromarone is a uricosuric drug that has been used in the treatment of gout over the last 30 years. It reduces the urate reabsorption, diminishing serum urate levels and therefore preventing gout flares.

In this prospective single-centre, open-labelled trial, 196 men with gout and low urinary excretion of uric acid were randomised to receiving either low-dose benzbromarone (LDBen) or low-dose febuxostat (LDFeb) for 12 weeks.

More participants in the LDBen group achieved the blood urate target of < 6 mg/dL than those in the LDFeb group (61% versus 32%). There was little difference in side effects between the groups.

The authors concluded that, “The results suggest that low dosing of benzbromarone may warrant stronger consideration as a safe and effective therapy to achieve serum urate target in gout.”

Source: Wiley