Mother and Child

Antidepressants prescribed to pregnant women could increase the chance of having a baby with birth defects, new research indicates.  The risk -- 6 to 10 %, versus 3 to 5 % in women who do not take the drugs -- is high enough to merit caution in their use, especially since, in most cases, they are only marginally effective, the study says. "In pregnancy, you're treating the mother but you're worried about the unborn child, and the benefit needs to outweigh the risk," said the study's senior author, Anick Bérard, a professor at UdeM's Faculty of Pharmacy and researcher at its affiliated children's hospital, CHU Sainte-Justine. A well-known expert in pregnancy and depression, Bérard has previously established links between antidepressants and low birth weight, gestational hypertension, miscarriages and autism. Her new study is among the first to examine the link to birth defects among depressed women. Every year, about 135,000...

A viral infection in a pregnant woman not only affects her subsequent ability to provide maternal care but can also trigger depression in her offspring, which can then even extend into the next generation as a result of changes to genetic mechanisms in the brain.  The researchers were able to demonstrate the following effects in the mouse model: 1.) stimulation of the immune system, comparable with a viral infection in the pregnant mother, results in diminished maternal behaviour towards her offspring after birth. 2.) this results in the tendency for offspring to develop depression and 3.) that daughters in their turn are less maternal towards their own offspring, even if they suffer no infection, so that the next generation is also more likely to develop depression. "We were therefore able to show that there is a transgenerational effect and that epigenetic changes occur in the brain," explains Daniela Pollak, who, together with her team, is generally concerned with ...

It’s happening; the world is waking up to the need for not just a beautiful body, but also a healthy one. Fitness is a journey and a lifestyle, so it is only befitting to have a festival for such a necessary activity of life. FitFam™ Fest will be hosting the largest African comprehensive fitness festival on the 11th of December 2016, at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island Lagos. The festival is bringing this holistic campaign to Lagos, and it would be the first of its kind. It is themed “Healthy Fun for Everyone”. It is going to be a celebration of fitness and wellness attracting men, women and children of all ages. Top notch trainers and fitness enthusiasts will converge in one place to throw out an array of fitness and beauty activities that would make Lagos the fitness capital of Africa. This well thought out event will gather over 7,000 fitness pundits and fans from different parts of the world, and also include International and local fitnes...

The key to preventing obesity in future generations is to make their parents healthier before they conceive, leading health researchers suggest. In a series of papers, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the researchers say that the time before couples conceive represents a missed opportunity to prevent the transmission of obesity risk from one generation to the next. They argue that a new approach is needed to motivate future parents to live a healthier lifestyle. There is now a wealth of evidence that the risk of obesity and its associated conditions, such as heart disease diabetes and some cancers, could impact the developing baby. In turn, when the child becomes a young adult they may pass the risk of obesity on to their children -- it is a vicious cycle. The nature of this problem is not adequately appreciated. Many young people, whilst appearing outwardly healthy, are nonetheless on a risky path to obesity and chronic disease and more likely to pass th...

Men can take birth control shots to prevent pregnancy in their female partners, according to a new study. Researchers are still working to perfect the combination of hormonal contraceptives to reduce the risk of mild to moderate side effects, including depression and other mood disorders.  Researchers are still working to perfect the combination of hormonal contraceptives to reduce the risk of mild to moderate side effects, including depression and other mood disorders. While women can choose from a number of birth control methods, men have few options to control their own fertility. Available methods for men include condoms, vasectomies and withdrawal. Better birth control options are needed for men. In 2012, 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide were unintended, according to the Guttmacher Institute. "The study found it is possible to have a hormonal contraceptive for men that reduces the risk of unplanned pregnancies in the partners of men who use it," said ...

A ground-breaking study into the changes that occur in a woman’s breast, from growing into one that provides milk for a new-born, and then back to its normal state, has discovered that milk-producing cells are, in effect, cannibalized by other cells following the period of breastfeeding. The human body can usually cope with the limited amount of detritus created from normal cellular lifecycles through the deployment of immune cells to remove the material. But just how it manages to eradicate the large amounts of dead or redundant mammary cells, and left over milk, following breastfeeding without triggering inflammation due to the quantities of immune cells which would be needed, wasn't fully known. During the lactation process, women produce vast quantities of milk for their babies -- up to nearly a litre per day. To do this breasts change dramatically during pregnancy, developing the tissue so that cells can make lots of milk. But when weaning finishes, the breasts ne...