The randomized, double-blind study, conducted by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), compared mothers who drank one glass of probiotic milk a day to women who were given a placebo. Use of the probiotic milk – which the mothers drank beginning at week 36 in their pregnancy up through to three months after birth — reduced the incidence of eczema by 40 percent in children up to age two, the researchers found. The study is a part of a larger research project at the university called the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim, or PACT, an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on childhood allergy.

Random sample of pregnant women

Researchers followed 415 pregnant women and their children from pregnancy until the children were two years old. The participants were randomly selected among pregnant women in Trondheim – and then randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given milk with probiotics, and the other a placebo milk. Mothers in the study did not know whether they were given the probiotic milk or the placebo milk.

“The taste of both products was similar, and the milk was delivered in unmarked milk cartons. This means that neither the participants in the study or the researchers knew who had received probiotic milk or placebo milk,” says NTNU researcher Torbjørn Øien, one of the scientists involved in the study. “We can therefore say with great certainty that it was the probiotic bacteria alone that caused the difference in the incidence of eczema between the two groups.”

Eczema incidence lower, or less severe

The children were checked for eczema throughout the period, as well as for asthma and allergy at age two. Afterwards, the incidence of asthma, eczema and allergy was compared in the two groups.

“The results showed that probiotic bacteria reduced the incidence of eczema in children up to age two years by 40 percent. And the kids in ‘probiotics group’ who did have eczema, had less severe cases,” explains Christian Kvikne Dotterud, a student in the Medical Student Research Programme at the Department of Community Medicine at NTNU.

The study did not show any effect from the probiotic milk on asthma or allergies, however.

More research on allergic diseases

Dotterud and his research colleagues have started a follow-up study of the children to see if they find any preventive effect on allergic diseases, especially asthma, when children have reached six years old.

“Our study is the first to show that certain probiotic bacteria given to the mother during pregnancy and breast-feeding prevents eczema,” says Dotterud.

Previous studies have shown that ingestion of some probiotics by children may prevent eczema, but this is the first study to show a preventative effect when the mother alone consumed the probiotics.

Via breast milk

“In Norway, there has been some skepticism about giving infants probiotics. Therefore, it is preferable that mothers take probiotics, not children,” he said. Probiotics are generally considered safe for healthy people.

To participate in the study mothers had to have planned to breastfeed their children.

“We believe that probiotic bacteria affects breast milk composition in a positive way,” Dotterud said.

The study was sponsored by Tine SA, which produced and distributed the milk used in the study. Tine SA is s Norway’s largest producer, distributor and exporter of dairy products, and is a cooperative owned by 15,084 Norwegian dairy farmers. Tine SA had no role in the study designs, data collection or data analysis.

The results of the study have been published in the journal The British Journal of Dermatology. The article is entitled: Probiotics in pregnant women to prevent allergic disease: a randomised, double-blind trial [Epub ahead of print]

Why the increase in asthma and allergies in Norway?

PACT, the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim study – was started in 2000 as a primary prevention, controlled study to look at measures that might reduce the increase in the incidence of asthma and allergies that has been recorded in Norway in recent decades.

It is an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on the impacts on childhood allergy of systematic and structure interventions to reduce tobacco exposure, increase the consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and reduce indoor dampness.

What are probiotics?

Probiotics are live lactic acid bacteria which can be added to food and drink. In contrast to common lactic acid bacteria used in the acidification of products such as milk and yogurt, probiotic bacteria have the ability to survive through the acidic stomach environment and settle temporarily in the intestine. The probiotic lactic acid bacteria have a natural place in the digestive system, where they strengthen normal intestinal flora and are good for the body.

What kind of probiotic milk did the scientists use?

Researchers used the Norwegian product Biola from Tine SA. There are wide variations in terms of how well the strains in the probiotic products on the market have been documented. Biola contains LGG ®, the probiotic bacteria that are currently the most extensively studied in the world. Biola product used in the study also contains Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5) and Bifidobacterium lactis (Bb-12). These also have documented health effects, albeit less extensive than LGG ®. There is reason to believe that it is beneficial for your health to consume a variety of bacterial strains with documented efficacy, rather than unilateral influence of only one bacterial strain.

What is LGG ®?

LGG ® (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) is the probiotic bacteria strain that has been the most studied and researched in terms of human health effects. It has been shown that LGG ® contributes to good gut function and a stronger defense against unwanted bacteria and viruses in the stomach. At present there are more than 500 published articles on LGG ® in international journals and more than 30 doctoral theses have been completed on LGG’s ® effect on health. More than 40 countries in different parts of the world market products with LGG ®. redOrbit

The genome-wide comparison, carried out by evolutionary biologists at the University of California

One mutation in particular spread from fewer than 10 percent of the Han Chinese to nearly 90 percent of all Tibetans.

Rasmus Nielsen, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology, who led the statistical analysis, said: “This is the fastest genetic change ever observed in humans. For such a very strong change, a lot of people would have had to die simply due to the fact that they had the wrong version of a gene.”

The widespread mutation in Tibetans is near a gene called EPAS1, a so-called “super athlete gene” identified several years ago and named because some variants of the gene are associated with improved athletic performance, Nielsen said. The gene codes for a protein involved in sensing oxygen levels and perhaps balancing aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.

Nielsen, a computational evolutionary biologist, mines genomic information to discover genetic changes driven by natural selection as humans and animals have adapted to new environments. Changes in the frequency of DNA mutations are one clue.

He said: “You look for rapid evolution in genes because there must be something important about that gene forcing it to change so fast. The new finding is really the first time evolutionary information alone has helped us pinpoint an important function of a gene in humans.”

Adaptation to low oxygen levels has allowed many peoples, from Andeans to Tibetans, to live at high altitude.

When people from lower elevations move above about 13,000 feet, where oxygen levels are about 40 percent lower than at sea level, they typically tire easily, develop headaches, produce babies with lower birth weights and have a higher infant mortality rate.

Tibetans have none of these problems, despite lower oxygen saturation in the blood and lower haemoglobin levels. Haemoglobin, which gives blood its red colour, binds and transports oxygen to the body’s tissues.

Nielsen used genome data produced by the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in Shenzhen, China’s flagship genome centre, to tease out the genetic changes associated with these physiological changes.

The analysis revealed that the common ancestors of Tibetans and Han Chinese split into two populations about 2,750 years ago, with the larger group moving to the Tibetan plateau. That group eventually shrank, while the low-elevation Han population expanded dramatically. Today, the Han Chinese are the dominant ethnic group in mainland China. The Tibetan branch either merged with the people’s already occupying the Tibetan plateau, or replaced them.

Nielsen said: “We can’t distinguish intermixing and replacement. The Han Chinese and Tibetans are as different from one another as if the Han completely replaced the Tibetans about 3,000 years ago.”

The Tibetan and Han Chinese genomes are essentially identical in terms of the frequency of polymorphisms in the roughly 20,000 genes, though some 30 genes stood out because of dramatic differences between the Tibetans and the Han.

Nielsen said: “We made a list of the genes that changed the most and what was fascinating was that, bing!, at the top of that list was a gene that had changed very strongly, and it was related to the response to oxygen.”

The findings of the research appear in the journal Science. Newstrack India

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) has made the move following “unwanted and intrusive contact” involving staff.

This has seen workers being followed, secretly photographed or harassed with some physical damage to their property.

On Tuesday, members of Holyrood’s Justice committee voted in favour of a new law on stalking which could see offenders jailed for up to five years.

NHS GGC, which employs 44,000 staff, has set up a working group with Strathclyde Police, to prepare new procedures to protect staff.

‘Zero tolerance’

Dr Anne MacDonald, a consultant forensic psychiatrist and member of the group, said: “Stalking is not something that just happens to celebrities or as the result of a broken relationship.

“It is something that all staff, whether or not working directly with the public, can face and is an issue that needs to be tackled.

“It is totally unacceptable that any of our staff should have to face and endure the trauma of being stalked and our stance is very much one of zero tolerance to this kind of abuse.”

Moves being considered to protect staff include, mentoring, training of line managers to recognise and handle risk, a “buddying-up” system and the use of GPS tracking technology.

On Tuesday, MSPs on Holyrood’s Justice committee voted in favour of a new law on stalking which could see offenders jailed for up to five years. BBC News

Be that as it may, however, there are some basic guidelines when selecting the wording for your wedding invitations that can diminish the anxiety of making a social blunder and allow you the joy of expressing your happiness. Meanwhile, there are unlimited places where the invites can be ordered from, though some of these can be quite costly but the choices are limitless in paper quality, ink color, wording, and fonts and so on. Another venue to obtain printed invitations is the wide world of internet. So better seek those real-budget saver now, after all, brides can easily make their own elegant, fun, and contemporary wedding invitations without the high cost.

Americans recognize things need to change in the grocery aisle, and they support Uncle Sam’s efforts to overhaul what is included in their food and on the packages. The majority also believe they are individually responsible for making the right food choices to avoid obesity, but will readily accept the government’s help to be successful, according to a new survey by FoodMinds.

“In light of all the recent attention around food labeling and nutrition guidance programs, we wanted to get a sense of what the consumer actually thought,” said Grant Prentice, FoodMinds’ director of Strategic Insights. “We heard clearly they believe things need to change – and that it makes sense for the government to lead that charge.”

Americans Want Uncle Sam…

…Involved in Food Labels

* Eighty-six percent of consumers are interested in the government implementing objective front-of-pack labeling that calls out calories and beneficial nutrients such as vitamin D or fiber

* Seventy-seven percent of shoppers are interested in front-of-package labels designed to warn them of products with high calories, low nutrients

- And, 64 percent said if their favorite food had a warning label on it, they would either eat less or stop buying the product entirely

…To Help Educate, Mitigate and Motivate

* Seventy-four percent favor government-sponsored nutrition education programs to help them better identify the “good” versus the “bad” foods

* Fifty-eight percent support the government banning advertising of “unhealthy” foods to children and young adults

* Half are in favor of the government allowing employers to reward healthier employees while levying higher costs or fines to punish those who engage in unhealthy behaviors

…But Not His Taxes

* Rejected by 65 percent of shoppers are proposed taxes on soft drinks and foods high in sugar and calories, but low in nutritional value

Just the (Nutrition) Facts, Ma’am

Consumers love food-related information – and want more of it, in particular basic, factual data.

* The Nutrition Facts panel ranks first with 93 percent of shoppers saying it’s a very or somewhat useful tool, followed by front-of-pack information (low fat, high in fiber, etc.) at 88 percent

* Not quite as popular are marketing-oriented claims such as “helps lose weight,” “helps build strong bones,” with 71 percent of shoppers finding them useful

* Three quarters of shoppers like seeing where their food comes from (“organic,” “natural” and “sustainable farming practices”)

Not It! Significant Minority Believes Others Responsible for Individuals’ Eating Habits

* When asked who holds the primary responsibility to make sure the public makes right food choices to avoid obesity, 38 percent chose: 14 percent said food companies, 12 percent said the government, nine percent said the health care system and three percent pointed to the educational systems

About the Food Temperance Survey

Created by the FoodMinds Strategic Insights department, the Food Temperance survey was conducted through Greenfield Online’s Omnibus service on January 18, 2010. The sample of 1045 adults is balanced on age, gender and region of the U.S. Sub-samples of 869 primary grocery shoppers and 182 Opinion Leader Shoppers were screened from the overall adult sample. The MOE is +/- 3% for primary grocery shoppers and +/- 7% for the opinion leader shoppers. redOrbit

Even if you’re grumpy by nature, just try to be cheerful.

Researchers at Columbia University rated the happiness levels of more than 1,700 adults in Canada with no heart problems in 1995.

After a decade, they examined the 145 people who developed a heart problem and found happier people were less likely to have had one.

The study was published online Thursday in the European Heart Journal.

“If you aren’t naturally a happy person, just try acting like one,” said Dr. Karina Davidson of Columbia University Medical Center, the paper’s lead author. “It could help your heart.”

Davidson and colleagues used a five-point scale to measure people’s happiness. They then statistically adjusted to account for things like age, gender, and smoking.

For every point on the happiness scale, people were 22 percent less likely to have a heart problem. The study was paid for by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and others.

Davidson said happy people were more likely to have a healthier lifestyle.

It could also be there is an unknown genetic trait that predisposes people to be happy and have less heart disease.

Other experts said happiness itself could result in a healthier heart compared to other emotions such as stress or depression.

Stress often releases hormones that can damage heart muscle. Stress can also cause blood vessels to open too wide, allowing plaque buildups to break off and clog the arteries, according to Joep Perk, a professor of health sciences at Sweden’s Kalmar University and spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology. Perk was not linked to the study.

“I often tell my patients not to get too depressed because it’s bad for your heart,” Perk said. “You need time to recharge your batteries or else your heart won’t be able to take it.”

Depression has long been noted as a risk factor for heart problems. Davidson said it was premature to draft guidelines recommending patients boost their happiness levels just to protect their hearts, even if it might help, until broader studies now under way are completed. But she does recommend trying to be happy for other reasons, like better mental health.

“Anything that patients can do to increase the amount of (happiness) in their lives will be helpful,” she said, adding there was a slight proviso. “No smoking, eating unhealthy food, not exercising or anything potentially damaging,” she said. “That’s the only trick.” By Maria Cheng, The Press Democrat